Alphabets
by prohibited
Summary: AU. No time line. A series of 26 drabbles/one-shots. Set with the theme of the alphabets. It will mainly focus on KK.
1. A for Alcohol

**Alphabets**

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**Disclaimer**  
Standard disclaimer applies. I do not own anything.

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**Word Count  
**3134 words

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**# 1** - **A for _Alcohol_**

* * *

Kaoru almost jumped out of her chair at the suddenness of the noise. She stared heatedly in irritation at the door, her hand unconsciously placing themselves above her wildly beating heart.

Who could it be?

She glanced at the alarm clock beside the stack of papers and books scattered everywhere across the tiny space that was her table. She scrunched her eyebrows in further annoyance when it read a good few minutes past midnight.

Her head whipped back to the direction of her door. The banging hadn't stop.

Sighing, she practically threw her pencil at her thick textbook, making her way none-too-hurriedly towards the source of her irritation. As her hand reached for the knob however, she halted herself. Her eyes narrowed in sudden suspicion before she questioned,

"Who is it?"

Instead of answering, more force was put into the attempt of, according to Kaoru, breaking through her door. She sighed. At times like these, she wished she had a peephole. But, whatever.

Slowly, and somewhat hesitantly, she opened her door; just enough to see who it was that had caused such a ruckus in the middle of the night.

Maybe that wasn't such a good idea.

The next moment, Kaoru founded her self staring blankly at the figure of her boyfriend as he had pounced at the door the moment she opened it, slamming it across the wall in the process of opening it with too fast of a speed.

She immediately scrunched up her face in distaste. Strong chemicals are making their way to her nose…

"Kenshin, are you drunk?" she questioned, not really expecting an answer. Her tone was accusing and shocked at the same time.

Kenshin, with his ruffled red hair and crumpled collar (did he just get off work?) smiled awkwardly at his girlfriend, as if he was high or, stating the obvious, drunk. The next moment, he forced himself in to her apartment, effectively pushing Kaoru a few steps backwards. He landed his face on her neck, inhaling deeply.

Kaoru, not really expecting to see a drunk Kenshin on her doorsteps at midnight, frowned and, before saying anything, crunched up her nose in disgust.

"You stink." She declared, but not really pushing Kenshin away. Hearing this, Kenshin chuckled, his hot breath burning sensations on Kaoru's skin. She threw the emotions out of her mind immediately. Now was not the time to be all lovey-dovey here. Before she could form questions on her confused mind however, Kenshin smiled, his lips brushing past Kaoru's skin.

"You, on the other, smell like heaven."

He had droned out his words. Kaoru rolled her eyes despite the compliment.

"Why are you drunk?" She practically had spit out her words as she tried to get Kenshin off of her and placed him somewhere where he could sit down and actually _breathe_.

Kenshin didn't resist her as she gently yet firmly pulled him towards her couch, sitting down loosely as he shrugged.

"Poker night. Looser gets to drink a couple cans of beer."

"And you lost." Kaoru predicted, sitting back on her chair before her desk. She didn't sound all too happy listening to Kenshin's explanation so far.

Kenshin shrugged once again, trying hard to pry his eyes open. He seemed tired. Kaoru sighed.

"Just who could have come up with such a stupid idea?" She questioned, keeping a mental note on hanging and torturing whoever said person would be. Daring to make her Kenshin drunk on a weekday was _not_ a smart thing to do.

"It's not…" Kenshin tried to make himself comfortable by arranging his position so that there were a few pillows below his head, "… stupid. Sano actually did manage to make all of us loosened up with…" he hesitated, as if trying to think of the correct word. Then he smiled. Kaoru's eyes narrowed at that stupid smile of his.

"He managed to make all of us loosened up with alcohol."

So it was Sano. Go figure.

Kaoru rolled her eyes as she speculated over the situation. It was a Wednesday night, well, Thursday now, and she had a huge midterm in just a couple of hours. If Kenshin was going to pull this stunt now… let's just say she's going to need to release her anger somewhere.

That somewhere would probably be at someone who had caused this mess in the first place. Namely, Sano.

She sighed.

"Why are you here? You should be home." She voiced out, clearly knowing that he had work tomorrow.

Kenshin pouted upon hearing her words. It was so very uncharacteristic of him that his face amused Kaoru for a second.

"But, cheesecake, I wanted to see you."

Cheesecake?

Kaoru blanched at the new nickname bestowed upon her.

Upon her one year and some-months relationship with Kenshin, she had only seen him drunk once. And even then, he was more tipsy than drunk. So, suffice it to say that she was not used to this, uhm, 'side' of Kenshin.

"How did you get here?" Kaoru interrogated, wondering if he had the nerve to drink and drive. If he did, ooh, he's going to get it bad from her.

Kenshin placed his feet on the other end of Kaoru's couch, making himself even more comfortable.

"Someone dropped me off." Then, seeing the look of relief on Kaoru's face, he added, "Don't worry, sugar, I know you hate drunk drivers."

Sugar?

Talk about… gross.

Instead of showing her disgust on her face however, Kaoru sighed once again. She glanced at her alarm clock to realize that it was half past twelve. Okay, either she's going to spend the rest of the night being productive studying, or she's going to spend it being productive sleeping.

"Who did?" She questioned as Kenshin yawned. She was still observing her alarm clock.

"Aoshi."

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw how Kenshin was falling asleep. Deciding there was nothing better to do than to let him spend the night with her, she left her chair, making a bee line for her closet.

Effectively, she fished out a huge blanket to spread over her sleeping boyfriend. She professionally covered every inch of his body that would not effectively suffocate him. However, as Kaoru was tucking the blankets so that Kenshin's shoulder was not exposed to the cold winter air, she realized something.

Kenshin's left cheek had turned slightly purple. Squinting her eyes to make sure what it was, she gaped when realization hit her.

Immediately, not caring that Kenshin had dozed off to dream land, she lifted her hand to move his face to the right, none-too-gently at that, exposing his left cheek even more clearly. There it was, the bruise.

Putting two and two together, Kaoru gaped at her boyfriend, who was currently waking up due to the sudden interruption of his serenity.

Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she placed both hands on Kenshin's shoulder to shove his body even deeper to her couch, shocking the poor, drunk man to bewilderment.

"You had a _fight_?" she hissed, her tone dangerously accusing.

Kenshin had to blink a few times, registering the indictment slowly in his alcohol-filled brain. Apparently, at the time when he finally knew what Kaoru was talking about, his eyes had also sent the correct nerve signals to his brain to know that Kaoru was looking dangerously… well, dangerous.

"Sweetheart," he started, still drunk and really having no idea what he was saying. Was it really necessary for him to explain? "It wasn't a fight. More like…"

Kaoru waited impatiently as Kenshin's slow brain processed the words together. After all, interrupting her studying, finding a stinking, drunk Kenshin in front of her doorsteps past midnight, and to learn that he had a fight too boot it all off was all the right ingredients to make Kaoru furious. And indeed, she was not happy.

Kenshin closed his eyes and for a second, Kaoru felt bad for having waking him up. He was obviously tired. And, chances are, it wasn't his choice to get drunk in the first place. Kaoru noticed he wasn't opening his eyes any time soon. He was probably falling to sleep right this instant.

"More like, a one side beating…" He finally finished.

What?

Kaoru didn't like the sound of that.

Obviously, Kenshin was talking about the other man, whoever it was, that was beaten up until a drunken Kenshin was satisfied.

What did the guy do?

Of course, Kaoru was making the assumption that it _was_ a guy. If Kenshin had beaten up a girl…

She didn't even want to go there. Sighing, speculating, she watched as Kenshin blinked furiously to try and keep himself awake.

"What's wrong?" Kaoru asked, leaning in to take a better look at his face. More specifically, at his bruise. This time, she noted that it wasn't too bad. The person, whoever it was, had probably landed nothing but a light punch on his face. But still, it's going to hurt. Probably. She didn't know. It's Kenshin she's talking about here.

"Kiss me, cupcake." Her boyfriend responded, smiling like a drunken fool. Kaoru rolled her eyes.

"Don't call me that." Kaoru bit out. "And I won't kiss you. You smell like… bad cabbage." She said, coming up with the best metaphor in the span of less than two seconds. Kenshin didn't seem too care all that much however. The next instant, he was snoring lightly, his right hand lying limp from the couch, towards the floor. He was heavily drunk. Seriously drunk. Dead drunk.

Staring at his limp form for a few seconds, Kaoru sighed as she gave in and reached out to kiss him on the forehead. He's going to wake up with a hell of a hangover tomorrow, and she's got a feeling she would be the one to soothe him out when it happens.

Dejectedly, Kaoru walked over to one of her shelves, taking out her bottle of aspirin and placing it beside her couch, easily reachable for Kenshin to retrieve the moment he woke up. Then, never missing out the small details, Kaoru also prepared for him a gigantic cup of water. He's going to need those two scientific miracles in the morning.

After observing that section of her room with much skepticism and detail, she dived in for her cell-phone. The first person she's going to victimize is Sanosuke.

At the fifth dial tone (much to Kaoru's impatience), he picked up. Kaoru's eyes narrowed at the sound of his voice. _He_ didn't sound drunk.

"Who the hell is this?" He barked to the phone, clearly not happy with the interruption. Kaoru resisted the urge to snap at him. Instead, she went straight down to business.

"You made Kenshin _drink_? Who in their right minds would let _Kenshin_ drink on a weekday? Do you want me to bang your head on my apartment wall everyday for the rest of your life?" So she did snap at him. Who cares.

She could imagine Sano grimacing at the other end of the line, but she really could care less.

"Jou-chan, it's a guys' night out thing…"

"You guys have been doing this stupid 'night out thing' since god knows when. Don't pull this as an excuse. Kenshin was never drunk on any of those previous nights." She interrupted smartly.

Sano made a move as if he was about to say something, but Kaoru knew that it was only going to be more excuses. The problem was, she didn't have time for excuses. She needed to study. Or sleep. Whichever it was, it certainly did not involve having a certain rooster yapping at her ears.

"Why was Kenshin drunk?" She had literally spat out those words. She rolled her eyes when she heard Sano wincing it (yes, she _heard_ it) and waited for his response.

"Well, see here, Jou-chan…" he started, trying to find words that would please Kaoru. Well, his options were very limited as far as both of them could tell. "I have an early meeting tomorrow, and you know me, Lady Fortune just hates me whenever I decided to put at stake some dough on the line for my poker games. And Kenshin being Kenshin…"

Kaoru gasped.

"You let Kenshin drink _your_ share?" She questioned incredulously. Sano tried to remain calm, the best as he could, knowing that the next time he sees Kaoru, his Jou-chan would probably hammer him down till he was nothing but a dwarf.

"I didn't ask him to do it! He asked for it!" He quickly defended himself. "He said that whenever he looses, I'll drink for his stake. And whenever I loose…"

"I can't believe you let him do this." Kaoru shook her head in disbelief, despite the fact that Sano probably couldn't see her. "He's got work early tomorrow morning. You're not the only one having to face a meeting at the break of dawn." Kaoru shot out, striking where it hurts.

And Sano did feel bad. He sighed.

"I know, I know, and I'm sorry. It's just that Aoshi had carpooled Kenshin over, so if he's drunk, he wouldn't have to drive."

"You have to try better than that if you don't want me to fry you up and feed you to the seagulls." Kaoru warned. She could hear Sano "eep-ed" in the distance, and it would have been amusing if she was not so annoyed.

Instead of pursuing the matter however, she decided to steer the conversation slightly to a different direction.

"And what's with the bruise?" She bit out, hoping there was a better explanation for this one.

Sano sighed when he heard this question.

"Long story."

"I've got all night stretched out before me to listen to your tale." Kaoru replied sarcastically. Sano mumbled something incoherent but decided to explain it nonetheless.

"So when half of the guys here were drunk, some of us decided that it pizza time, right?" He paused for Kaoru to make some type of a response, but all she did was nodded. And Sano couldn't see that obviously, so he sighed and continued.

"Well, pizza guy came fifteen minutes later. Kenshin, drunk as he was, decided to open the door. Out came this guy who works with you in that coffee shop," Kaoru was about to interrupt but decided against it. "And he noticed Kenshin. Pizza guy started talking about you, asking how you were doing, how's your school work, how's your life…"

"Yeah, I get the picture. Then what?" Kaoru interrupted, sitting down on her bed. Sano sighed.

"Then he started talking about how lucky Kenshin was to have you or something. Talked about… you know, how hot you were, I guess. Saying something about your ass and all that crap." Kaoru's eyes narrowed dangerously at that. "Well, that pissed the hell out of Kenshin. Pizza guy was seriously quite rude about how he described you anyway, so I didn't really blame Kenshin. Anyway, next thing we knew, pizza guy was screaming like a girl, lying on the concrete floor."

Kaoru's jaw mentally dropped down. After a while, she collected herself. First things first…

"Oh god…" she breathed out. "How bad was he injured?"

At her question, Sano scoffed.

"How the hell should I know? He ran away the next instant. Oh wait, I think he tried to hit Kenshin first. Well, Kenshin's drunk, so he didn't do a very good job at dodging it. But the next punch he gave pizza guy must have hurt."

Kaoru nodded in her shock, but continued on with her questioning.

"Who exactly did Kenshin hit?"

Sano frowned at her question.

"You think I'd give a damn?" He asked. Kaoru rolled her eyes. Should had known better.

"Fine, what did he look like?" She could tell that Sano was concentrating hard to remember.

"Blonde, blue eyed. Medium height, at least taller than Kenshin I think. Some freckles on the cheeks…"

Kaoru gasped and Sano stopped with his descriptions.

"What?" he asked smartly. Kaoru moaned and drew her free hand to her eyes, covering it.

"He attacked _James_?"

Sano frowned and scoffed at the same time.

"Who the hell is _James_?"

"My boss' son, you retard!" Kaoru screamed back. "He's the son of the guy who owns the coffee place where I work!"

Sano mumbled a "shit" but didn't say anything after that. Kaoru was just about to rant some more before a groan interrupted her. Telling Sano to hang on, Kaoru glanced at the half-awake, half-asleep Kenshin. He was calling her.

"Kaoru, honey?" He drowned out.

"Yes?" she questioned, moving to be closer to him. Kenshin turned the other way though, so that his back was facing her.

"Pipe down. You're so loud. Could you just please…" here he took a slow, deep yawn, "shut up?"

Kaoru's mouth hanged opened before she resisted the urge to throw her boyfriend out of her apartment. Instead, her rational mind told her that she _was_ being a little too loud. Sighing, she returned back to Sano.

"You do realize I will probably be fired by tomorrow afternoon?"

"Sorry to hear that Jou-chan." He did sound concerned. "But think about it this way, more time to spend with your ever-so-busy boyfriend?" He tried lamely to cheer her up. Kaoru sighed once again.

"Whatever. I think I'll just bury you alive when I see you tomorrow. Until then, you better stay alive and sober." She concluded sarcastically, with the slightest hint of an advice.

"Har har." Sano replied back, with just as much sarcasm. "I'll try to dodge the pile of dirt you'll be throwing at me tomorrow by hiding under my bed."

Kaoru smiled despite herself and told the rooster good night, in which he was all too happy to end the phone call and return back to his poker game.

She sighed, glancing at her textbooks. What the heck, she already knew most of the things for tomorrow's midterm anyway. Spending the night being productive sleeping sounded way more appealing that burrowing her nose under the never-ending pages of her books.

Stretching, she took a deep breath before she made her way to her couch and, of course, her drunk, sleeping boyfriend.

Despite of the fact that due to his actions, she would probably loose her job, she couldn't help but to swell with pride at how much Kenshin would go for her. Sober or drunk, she grumpily added.

So, with happiness bloating inside her stomach, she smiled and reached out to once again kiss Kenshin's forehead.

Perhaps alcohol and Kenshin might not be the best combination in the world, but if that meant that, even when he was half out of this world and half drowned under water, he could still defend her and protect her, Kaoru felt that she could live with that.

* * *

**Author's Scribbles**  
Hey! It's been a while since my absence, and I am back! Well, I hope this drabble is good enough. Not really sure, I made it with such limited time... Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed it.

Some things I'd like to say: since I'm planning on being active here on again, I'm looking for a couple beta-readers who can proof-read my writings first before I post it online. If anyone's interested, would you please check out my bio, or just email me at Thanks so much if you decided to do me this humongous favor.

And with that said, wait for the next drabble!

Oh, and reviews do make me happy (hint, hint).

* * *

**-prohibited-**


	2. B for Best Friends

**Alphabets**

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**Disclaimer**  
Standard disclaimer applies. I do not own anything.

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**Word Count**  
4356

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**#2 - B for _Best Friends_**

* * *

They were the best of friends. Kaoru couldn't remember how they first met each other, while Kenshin couldn't even remember how they got close in the first place. 

Sure, life as toddlers was very much different than life in elementary school, where girls thought guys were nothing but mean monsters and boys thought that girls were filled with germs and whatnots.

With those childish thoughts gone, next came the torturous years of junior high, where gossips spread like viral diseases and hold as much power over you more than you can ever have over yourself. Some of the popular kids were starting to have love interests, and started experimenting with kisses and perhaps even pushing it a step further. However, Kaoru was by no means part of the popular circle, and despite the fact that Kenshin was, he was more into sports than he was to girls.

Those years passed by and out came high school. High school was weird in the sense that popularity was no longer such a big issue, but groups began to form. Labels were made, claiming to the world who one should hang out with, and who to be avoided.

Kaoru happened to be one of those "un-labeled" kids. Her attires were, although by far less trendy than the wannabe-s and the cheerleaders, relatively accepted. Her grades were high – she was an A student taking Advanced Placement courses by her junior year – but she got her Bs too. She played sports and joined in the school orchestra. Despite all of her activities, however, she only has a set of close friends and thus didn't stand out all that much. In a sense, no one hated her, but not many liked her either.

Kenshin was popular. His label would fall under the popular jocks. He was president of the class for three years, and was voted president of the student body his senior year. He was relatively smart; he had his share of popular, pretty girlfriends and all that jazz during his high school years.

Miraculously, despite all the differences between them, the two managed to still maintain their undying friendship.

Of course, arguments happened. Angers and frustrations occurred. But, in the end, one of them would gather the courage to apologize to the other, who would in turn apologize, and all would be good again.

All those twelve years in school, they did not hang out with each other in campus. They each have their own different circles of friends, and it just so happened that neither of their friends seemed to be too eager to know of their relationship. High school was, after all, a time for adjustment between maintaining your self-centered self from junior high, and to grasp the abstract idea of maturity expected out of you.

To Kenshin's friends, Kaoru was someone who they would talk to if they wanted to have a good partner for a project. She would certainly get you a good grade. To Kaoru's friends, Kenshin was a popular jock who was extremely good looking but perhaps a little conceited at the same time.

It was really interesting to note that none of their friends seem to realize how strong their bond was. True, they knew of their friendship, but they thought that it wasn't more than just the hi-bye thing you say to your acquaintances in the hall way, which was so mistaken.

Kaoru and Kenshin actually made sure that they had their first kiss together. Gross as that sounded during the time, they were glad they did it. Kaoru was the one who suggested it, saying that she didn't want to have any painful memories about such an, according to her junior high self, important event.

They went to their first dance together. They even went to senior prom together, even though they did somehow branched off during the course of the event. Strange how their friends never seemed to be more curious about them.

Neither of them minded. They were pretty much indifferent about the whole issue. They lived a couple houses apart. They usually hang out after school or on weekdays, when their friends wouldn't bother with their time. It's not that they try to hide their friendship. They just had an unspoken agreement that it was not necessary information to give away and both were cool with it.

So now the two of them are sophomores in college. Ever since forever, Kaoru had wanted to go to a certain university and Kenshin being Kenshin, decided he would follow. Of course, the fact that it was a good school only added to his decision.

Kenshin had just broken up with his year-long girlfriend, and he was a mess for being dumped. He liked her; both he and Kaoru knew that. And the fact that her feelings for him had died was just not that good of an excuse for Kenshin to be dumped. This was the first time the girl had ended the relationship with him, and the reality was still trying to sink in his head.

Kaoru thought it was too bad. Out of all of Kenshin's numerous girlfriends since high school, Tomoe was her favorite. Despite that she took the majority of his time away from Kaoru, at least she was polite, smart, and pretty. But the fact that Tomoe's feelings for Kenshin were gone… there's nothing Kaoru could do but be angry at her, right?

Kenshin was at Kaoru's apartment, drinking the hot chocolate she had made him. Kenshin always loved Kaoru's hot chocolate. In his words, "they are the best of Kaoru's talents". Kaoru laughed when she first heard those words.

The two of them were positioned comfortably on Kaoru's worn-down couch; Kenshin bundled over like a cocoon with Kaoru's heavy blanket, hands holding the gigantic mug. It had been two weeks since his break up, and Kenshin was finally able to laugh and smile a little. He was also ready to talk about the somewhat taboo issue.

"Apparently she fell in love with someone else." He blurted out suddenly, breaking the comfortable silence between the two of them. Kaoru wasn't surprised at his suddenness. Spending almost 18 years of her life with the man meant she knew his habits really well. Kaoru wasn't going to make a big deal out of his statement either, because she knew Kenshin hated that.

"You're kidding." She replied, rising an eyebrow and turning her head to see him rather than the television. He nodded, already looking at her. His blue-violet eyes almost reflecting his emotions. _Almost_. If Kaoru didn't know him better, she would have missed it.

"It was her ex. You know I was telling you about a guy named Akira?" Kaoru nodded. "Well, yeah, it's him. Apparently they are not over each other." He shrugged. Kaoru noted he was sincerely ignorant, not faking it. She was glad.

"Well," Kaoru started, since she sensed that Kenshin was expecting her to say something. "At least we owe her for notifying you straight ahead instead of two-timing you, right?"

"That's true." Kenshin agreed, but then his face showed confusion. "But that's not what's bothering me. I guess the past few days I've been confused more than angry."

"What do you mean?" Kaoru asked, genuinely interested.

"When she dumped me," Kenshin started. "She was smiling. Not in a bitchy way, but actually, she was smiling _kindly_."

"Kindly?" Kaoru questioned, imagining the scene in her head. Kenshin nodded.

"Yeah, and then she said that she's not worried about me because I will always have a place to turn to; I will always have someone waiting for me to make me happy."

Kaoru scrunched her eyebrows together.

"Is she shifting the blame on you? Accusing that you liked another?" She said that despite the fact she knew Tomoe would never say such things. Kenshin shook his head.

"I don't think so. That's not the end of it either. She said that she's stupid for not realizing such strong bonds already existing in me. Then she laughed and said _I'm _stupid for not realizing such strong bonds I've created myself. She hugged me after that and told me that she hope I will come to realize it soon before it's too late."

"Really, she said that?" Kaoru asked, joining Kenshin in his confusion. Then something hit her.

"Wait, didn't Megumi also say something like that when you broke up with her, senior year?"

"Exactly." Kenshin said, sincerely confused. "I did think that Tomoe only said those words to make me feel better, but then I remember Megumi saying that too. Do you think I really am not realizing something?"

Kaoru looked at him for a moment before shaking her head.

"I don't think so. I mean, I pretty much know everything about you, right?" Kenshin nodded. "Then if you do have a special bond with someone, I should know, right?"

"That's very true." Kenshin agreed. Kaoru sighed.

"Well if it's making you this confused and curious, why don't ask Tomoe herself? You guys are obviously over each other. You did tell me that you felt the chemistry dying around a couple months ago."

* * *

Kenshin took Kaoru's advice and decided to meet Tomoe over for lunch. When he called her and told her his reasoning, she laughed and immediately agreed. So here he was, sitting right in front of her in one of their campus' cafeteria. 

"You really have no clue what I meant?" Tomoe asked, going straight to business as she opened her bottle of water. She did say she only had twenty minutes for lunch due to a class she soon would have to go to.

"Nope. Care to enlighten me?" Tomoe laughed.

"Okay, let me ask you something. Who was the first person you wish to see after we break up?"

Kenshin gave the question some thought and almost immediately the figure of a raven haired girl with mesmerizing sapphire eyes popped into his head. He shrugged as he took a bite of his burger.

"Kaoru."

Tomoe discreetly smiled, something that went unnoticed by Kenshin.

"Did you ever pause to think why you chose her? Why not, perhaps, Sano? Or Aoshi?"

"Because Kaoru is Kaoru. She's my best friend." Kenshin answered, confused at why Tomoe was asking him these questions. "I've always told her about personal things before I tell others. I mean, I don't know. She can make me think straight even when I'm out of control."

"And why is that?" Tomoe asked, amused that Kenshin could be this naïve. Honestly, he was like a child. Kenshin was getting impatient, just slightly.

"Why? Are you suggesting that you're jealous of Kaoru?"

"Well, as a matter of fact, in the beginning of our relationship, I was. I don't, and couldn't, understand why you would seek her first rather than me when something major happens to you." Kenshin made a move as if to say that was crazy but Tomoe didn't let him have the chance.

"Then I soon realized that _I _shouldn't be jealous because Kaoru was the one who was truly jealous of _me_."

Kenshin gave a look of confusion and Tomoe was the slightest bit aghast that he still couldn't pick up her now-more-than-subtle hints.

"Okay Tomoe, I know you're a psychology major and all, but you're weirding me out with all your mental analyses here."

Tomoe had the strongest urge to roll her eyes and only stopped herself because that would be very un-Tomoe-like. Instead she settled by frowning.

"Let me ask you a different question. Kaoru is single now, but she has had quite a number of boyfriends, correct?"

"Three until now." Kenshin replied, clearly not seeing how this conversation relates to what he had come to talk to Tomoe about.

"Okay, out of those three, who did you like the best?"

"Well, to be honest, I should say I don't like any of them." Kenshin then, out of nowhere, got the feeling that he indeed was missing something. In fact, it was sort of like a revelation. His eyes widened, but he couldn't grasp what it was. Tomoe smiled then as she finished her salad elegantly quickly. How she managed to do that would remain forever a mystery to Kenshin.

"Dig it deeper, Kenshin. You'll find the answer. It really is too bad that Kaoru didn't realize it too."

* * *

After much reflection and thinking, Kenshin finally realized it. He first laughed at himself for thinking such crazy things, shaking his head and taking a shower. A good deal fifteen minutes later, stepping out of the shower however, he was freaked out. 

The realization hit him like the water did when he was showering.

Since when did he…? Why did he not realize it any sooner? Why did _she_ not realize it any sooner? Wait, wait, did she feel the same way?

He sat on his bed and immediately his eyes fell on his dorm wall, where numerous pictures of him and Kaoru posing for the camera were posted. Sano, his roommate, had always teased him with her, but the thought just never seemed to register.

Kenshin was speechless. It was too fast. He gritted his teeth. No, it was too damn _slow_ for his part.

Staring at the pictures, he knew right then and there that his feelings were true. He deserved the title to be the world's biggest fool for not realizing such strong, important feelings any sooner. He tugged at his red mane in panic, thinking that it was Kaoru. _Kaoru_, for goodness sake!

The very same Kaoru whom he had, at countless times, claimed as his sister, as the best friend that he would never let go.

He suddenly felt very stupid for saying those words… and regretted those words with his utmost ability.

He needed to talk to someone about his new found revelation. At times like these, he would easily pick up his cell phone and dial Kaoru's number. But obviously that option was out of the question.

His mouth was dry, and the realization hit him once again. It was like a rapid gunshot, only slowed down for dramatic effect, hitting him continuously. Not knowing what to do, he got up from bed, put on his sneakers, and ran out of his dorm. He needed to _think_.

* * *

It was Friday night, exactly a week after Kenshin's meeting with Tomoe, and despite the uncountable invitations to go clubbing with her cheerful roommate Misao, Kaoru had politely refused, saying that she felt like staying at home at the moment. Misao was disappointed, but at least she would still be going with her Aoshi. 

Popping her rented DVD into the system, she sat down on her lovely, albeit worn-out couch, draped herself with her gigantic blanket, and munched on her favorite chocolate-chip cookies. She then wondered what Kenshin was doing. Quickly pausing her movie, she fished out her cell phone and started dialing.

It took a rather long time for him to answer, but Kaoru didn't mind.

"Kenshin, you busy?" She asked immediately, making herself more comfortable on her couch. Kenshin took a long time in replying too, something that did not go unnoticed by Kaoru.

"No, not really." He answered finally. "Just finishing my laundry. What's up?"

"You want to come over? I'm just about to see a movie. And I feel like I haven't seen you in a while."

It was true, they haven't seen each other since a week ago when Kenshin came over to talk about Tomoe. Again, there was hesitation on Kenshin's part. Kaoru narrowed her eyes.

"Kenshin, are you okay?" She asked. Kenshin sighed.

"I'll be there in thirty minutes."

"You sure? I mean, if you're busy, I don't want to force you or anything. I just thought that if you're bored and have nothing to do…" She trailed off, thinking that was the reason for Kenshin's hesitation. But then again, Kenshin had been almost always hesitant this week. Kaoru learned from past experiences that a sullen Kenshin was best to be left alone - he wanted to be left alone - and Kaoru will leave him alone until he was ready to either talk about it, or drop the attitude.

"I'll be there, thirty minutes. I do have to walk from my dorm to your apartment, you know." He said, his tone slightly teasing. At least that's an improvement. Kaoru smiled and told him she'd wait.

* * *

Kenshin was going to have a talk with Kaoru. He thought he could hide his feelings, but he was never really much of an actor. Throughout the entire week, he was suffocating, tortured. No way in hell he could ever live the rest of his life like that. 

He sighed when he knocked on Kaoru's door. He didn't tell anyone about his new found discovery, and he didn't tell anyone what he was about to do.

He was scared beyond belief - nervous as hell - but he would do anything to just get it over with. With this knowledge in mind, despite its negative effects on him, he wasn't sure if he wanted to go back to his ignorant self.

He was in a dilemma. A torturous, nerve wrecking dilemma.

Kaoru opened the door with a half bitten chocolate chip on her left hand. Kenshin immediately felt the color rising in his face, trying desperately to cool it down. He couldn't be like this. Not to Kaoru, for goodness sake!

Kaoru didn't seem to realize and told Kenshin to come on in. Kenshin immediately knew that Misao was gone because of the lack of sound generating from the living room. He didn't know whether he was supposed to be glad or not.

When they settled on her couch, Kaoru was just about to press her remote to continue the movie when Kenshin decided that he was just about to explode. He did, but at least he managed to control it.

"Kaoru, I… we, we need to talk." He said slowly, trying to find the reactions in her eyes. Kaoru immediately set the remote down, noting how serious Kenshin looked. She was all ears in a span of a second.

"Yeah? Okay. What's up?" She asked as she usually does whenever Kenshin started a conversation like that. Kenshin shifted in his seat.

"You know how we've been close for years now?" He said, forever grateful that he had practiced this conversation in his head for the last three days or so. Kaoru nodded.

"Have you ever think that… oh god, I don't know how to say this." He groaned, more to himself than to Kaoru. Kaoru scrunched her eyebrows in concern as she held Kenshin's hands in hers. If anything, that only made Kenshin's heart speed faster.

"What's wrong?" She asked, smiling slightly. Kenshin then knew he had to say it. He took a deep breath and stared immediately at her eyes.

"I've known you at least for eighteen years, Kaoru. That's a long time." Kenshin said, looking directly at her eyes and Kaoru giggled despite herself.

"Yes, Kenshin, it is a long time. Are you getting bored of me?" She teasingly questioned, not in an attempt to lighten up the mood, but because the opportunity was there. Kenshin managed to smile and shook his head.

"If anything, I seem to grow fonder of you."

"Aw, that's so sweet!" Kaoru exclaimed with happiness. Kenshin's watery smile was still there.

"Every day, I go through this process of becoming closer to you, grow more attached to you, to the point where I think that I couldn't live without you." Kenshin said, the adrenaline rushing through his body, giving him the spurt of courage he knew would die out in the next minute. That was why he needed to say it now, despite Kaoru's eyes widening and her pressure on his hands lightening slightly.

"Kenshin…?" She asked hesitantly, clearly not knowing where this conversation was going. Kenshin didn't even shift his gaze on her, something he would praise himself for the rest of his life. He didn't gulp down his nervousness. Surprisingly, most of all to himself, he was in control of the whole situation. To him, this was like his any other conversation with Kaoru, him telling her his deepest emotions, feelings, secrets.

"It's suffocating to know that I didn't realize it anytime sooner. And I know there is always the possibility that you don't think of me the same way. But, oh Kaoru, I cannot hold it any longer."

There was a brief silence as Kaoru stared, mouth hanging slightly open, and Kenshin observing the emotions displayed in her eyes. Her beautiful, sparkling eyes. He took a deep breath, readying himself to leave.

"I'm sorry I've surprised you. I'm sorry if I had effectively ruined our friendship. But I want you to know, Kaoru, that there really isn't something I can do. I can't accept the fact that we're just friends. I want to be more than that. I want to be more than just your best friend."

He squeezed Kaoru's hand, smiled at her somewhat anxiously - yet with unmistakable relief - and showed himself the exit.

Kaoru stared at the spot Kenshin had just seated himself seconds ago, her mouth slightly open. Her chocolate chips and movie completely slipped off her mind.

* * *

In a sense, Kaoru's reaction to the whole ordeal was different from Kenshin's. For one, it didn't take her nearly as long to come up with a decision. Three days after Kenshin's unexpected declaration, Kaoru called him to have dinner together at her favorite restaurant. 

Through the phone, she couldn't tell Kenshin's emotions, and she didn't know whether she was glad about that or not.

He was early. She smiled at him somewhat strangely as she took the seat across from him. He tried to smile back, but Kaoru knew that he was scared. She didn't want him to be scared.

Perhaps out of fear, or perhaps because he didn't want to end their dinner so fast, Kenshin started the conversation with a totally different topic than what they had initially wanted to talk about with this dinner. The conversation was, Kaoru was sad to note, awkward and not at all like the usual ones they have. Finally, as they were finishing their main courses, Kaoru couldn't take it anymore.

"Kenshin," she started. By her tone, Kenshin knew that this was it. His death sentence or his ticket to heaven. It all depends.

"I've been thinking about what you told me." Kaoru started, staring directly into his eyes, just like Kenshin when he was confessing to her. She took a deep breath. Kenshin being silent around her was suffocating.

"And I've reached the conclusion that I…" She paused, watching Kenshin holding his breath. Maybe she should stop tormenting the poor soul? But it was so much fun!

"I think that I could never stop being your best friend, Kenshin." She said, still looking at him. Kenshin immediately however, looked away. He looked down, so as Kaoru wouldn't be able to see his face, and his grip on his utensils tightened. Kaoru sighed.

"I knew you would act like this. You should know that I'm not finished talking."

Kenshin didn't look up. Kaoru almost rolled her eyes. She thought he was the confident one of the two.

"I don't want to stop being your best friend, Kenshin. I want to always be there for you, to protect you, to share the ups and downs with you." She paused, noticing that Kenshin started to gather the courage to look up. Here she smiled, sincerely, beautifully.

"I want to take care of you, to know that I'm special to you, to sympathize with you, to laugh with you. I want to care for you, to love you." She said, blushing slightly but still smiling.

"I didn't notice these emotions until you brought it up. But then I realized that all those love interests I had previously were all so superficial, all trying to make a competition out of you. And guess what? They couldn't win."

"I cannot let go being your best friend. I want to remain your closest friend forever, I cannot let that position be taken by anyone else."

Kenshin stared blankly at her, her words slowly having meaning in his shocked brain.

"I want you to take care of me. To caress me when I sleep. To protect me, to hold me tight, to think of me as special - that no one can replace me for you. I want you to love me."

And what else can Kenshin do but to beam out a smile as Kaoru ranted on with her declaration, obviously nervous and happy at the same time. Suddenly, without any warning, he leaned across the length of the table and kissed her, effectively stopping her from whatever things she had left to say.

* * *

Kenshin was waiting for Kaoru in front his dorm building. She was five minutes late already, but then her class usually ran over time. He shifted his weight just when a familiar figure caught his attention. No, it wasn't Kaoru. 

"Hey, Tomoe." He greeted, smiling at her as she hurried over to her dorm. She looked up and smiled at him.

"Kenshin! I haven't seen you in like, forever! How's life?" She questioned, approaching him. Kenshin smiled.

"Life's great. Oh, and I think I owe you a long overdue thank you."

Tomoe didn't miss a beat. She smiled the beautiful Tomoe smile.

"Congratulations! Since when, may I ask?"

"Around a month ago."

"Well, I'm sincerely happy for you. Now you would stop claiming to me how a wonderful _friend_ she is." She said, teasing him lightly. Kenshin smiled back.

"Oh no, she would always be my friend. A very special friend. Okay, that sounded cheesy."

Tomoe mouthed an "ah" as she nodded, her smile still intact.

"Kenshin is becoming _deep_." She teased. Both laughed. Then, with appropriate goodbyes, Tomoe continued her walk.

Kaoru arrived ten minutes later, panting for breath, saying her apologies. Kenshin smiled, took her hand, telling her it was no big deal.

* * *

**Author's Scribbles**  
Hey people. I won't make excuses for my extremely long absence, so I'll instead mention my gratitude to my lovely reviewers. It's because of you guys that I've remained writing fiction stories. And I promise that I'll try my best to stop my ridiculous delays and instead keep consistent updates. Sounds good? I hope so... 

So please review so that I'll know some of you actually enjoy my writing. And more reviews means faster update, no?

* * *

**-prohibited-**


	3. C for Crash

**Alphabets**

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**Disclaimer**  
Standard disclaimer applies. I do not own anything.

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**Word Count  
**3549

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# 3 - **C for _Crash_**

* * *

Today was not the greatest day for Kaoru. In fact, today sucked for Kaoru. It really did suck.

It wasn't everyday that she woke up to find her hair deciding to not cooperate. All her life, she was known for her hair, the beauty that it possessed. Kaoru was always proud of her hair. Today however, they were all over the place, refusing to be styled neatly as they always were. Kaoru finally tied it on a ponytail with a sigh.

She had overslept too. Apparently her alarm chose to not cooperate as well. All she managed to do before scurrying off to the car she had borrowed from Sano was to change her clothes, grab the purse placed on her desk, and tie her hair. All in the span of five minutes. Pretty great, huh?

Kaoru wasn't the type to skip breakfast and so by ten o'clock, she was starving. As an apprentice lawyer, she didn't have much time for lunch, seeing that the lawyer she worked with was very authoritarian. Especially not today, when they had two cases to deal with.

She had approximately fifteen minutes and twenty-two seconds to grab herself something to eat, gobble the food, and head straight to the court. It wasn't until she was in the neighborhood Subway that she realized she had left her wallet at home. Apparently she didn't return it back to her purse after paying for her delivery meal yesterday.

Unable to control herself, she swore. Her stomach was growling at its protest from lack of food and all she could do was glance at her watch and realize there was only seven minutes left to reach her next destination. She felt she wanted to kill someone as she went back to Sano's car.

Both cases ended up bad. On one case, it was obvious that her client was the one at fault, and no matter how good her team was, there seemed little hope to release him from his sentence. The second case was just plain failure. Kaoru didn't even want to relive the event.

Sometime between the two cases, Kaoru had managed to borrow money and bought a food-bar from a vending machine. She hated food-bars. They were tasteless and too tiny to be called food, if anyone cared about her humble opinion. But that was all she could do, and her stomach was demanding for it. That was all the food she got in the last twenty hours or so.

Thus, after receiving her fair share of agonizing lecture from her lawyer-boss for being late, looking disheveled (seriously, a messy ponytail in a court?), and for failing both cases, Kaoru was very ready to go home and have dinner. Sweet, warm, fulfilling dinner.

Slipping herself in the car Sano had lent her, she sighed and took a slight moment to recollect herself. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, willing herself to believe that the rest of the day could only go better.

All she had to go was one more mile before she reached her apartment. All she needed to do was turn left and go straight before she reached it. And then it happened.

She didn't know whether she was dozing off or whether she was just too plain hungry that her head wasn't functioning and that her stomach was hurting like hell, but it happened. The loud crashing noise woke her from her slight stupor and she could only stare at what happened in front of her.

She had crashed into the person on her left, just when she was making the turn.

Oh… my… god…

Today really did suck.

Kaoru could only stare. The driver on the victimized car turned around, also in shock. It seemed to be forever before he noted that they should stop and pull over the side, but all it really took was only a couple of seconds. They stopped right in front of a Starbucks.

Kaoru did as what was expected out of her, and was about to open her door but found that it was stuck. That's not a good sign.

Mind echoing with loud noises, her stomach suddenly churned and it was all she could do to lean over and reach out, using her yoga skills, to move and open the passenger's door and stepped out into the cold night air. The other driver was already outside, assessing the damage she had done. She had hit him on his passenger side. Immediately her eyes landed on her own car and all she could do was, once again, stare.

It was bad. A huge dent form on the driver's side of the car. The side mirror was obviously broken, and from the looks of it, her door wouldn't be able to function as well. She tried to open it, and true enough, it was stuck.

Then she gathered the nerve to look at the other car. She grimaced mentally, but only stared physically. If anything, it was at least as bad as her own car. Then she noted the car itself. She almost bit out a sarcastic laughter, as if saying, "I just _knew_ it".

Because the car was expensive. She didn't know much about cars, but she knew it was an extremely expensive convertible, and just from a glance, one can tell it was new. It couldn't be more than two months old, tops.

Not knowing what else to do, Kaoru walked towards the driver, who in turn was now squatting down and observing quietly the damage she had cause in further detail.

"Oh my god," Kaoru breathed, effectively catching his attention. Standing so close, now she saw the true damage she had inflicted upon his vehicle.

If Kaoru pay attention, she would realize that her victim had blazing red hair and beautiful eyes. But Kaoru wasn't paying attention to any of those. She couldn't even focus on what was going on. Her head hurt, and her stomach was sending her feelings as if she was being ripped apart from the inside. And somehow she knew that had nothing to do with the earlier crash. It was due to lack of food.

"I'm so sorry." That was all she could say. All she could think of to say.

The man stood up slowly and from his position, took a quick observation of Kaoru's car.

"This is quite bad." He commented the obvious, now shifting his attention to the woman before him. Kaoru couldn't help but agree mentally, but all she did was whisper her apologies again. He shrugged.

"I guess now we'll just swap insurances and stuffs, right?" He looked at her. She nodded. She had never been in an accident before. She was a good driver. The only reason she had to borrow Sano's car was because her car-less younger brother (in the name of Yahiko) had needed it for his date. That thought halted her.

This was Sano's car! Sano's new, loved, cherished, two-seater, Mercedes-Benz! Damn, he was going to kill her. And probably wouldn't stop at that too. Probably gamble her dead body to some illegal black-market where someone would want her organs. She shivered not because of the cold.

"Okay," she mumbled, just because she had to. She opened the dash-board, only to find it empty except for the manual. She searched under the seats, under the mats, and found nothing. Oh god, don't tell her the car was uninsured? That would be years of instant ramen-s on her part!

She realized the only way to figure it out was to, inevitably, call Sano. She never thought she would be scared of the man. She suddenly felt sick to the stomach, literally, as she picked up her cell phone.

"I'm sorry, but I need to make a call. You see, this car isn't mine, it's my brother's." Kaoru explained to the redhead, trying to sound as confident as possible. She failed miserably. Her voice shook and it was too high to be considered normal. The person whose car she had crash looked at her and told her to go ahead. She punched in Sano's speed dial. He picked up after the third tone.

"What's up, Jou-chan?"

Kaoru took a deep breath.

"Please, please, _please_ Sano, do _not_ freak out." She sounded like she was at the verge of tears, something that did not go unnoticed by both Sano and the young man standing before her.

Obviously, such words only resulted in the opposite. Sano's voice immediately grew serious.

"What? What happened? Are you okay?"

"I… I had an accident… your car… and… and now, it's… it's…"

"An accident?" Sano exclaimed, cutting her off. His voice was so loud, Kaoru was sure the man before her could hear their conversation despite the fact that they are in the middle of a relatively busy street. "Where are you right now? Are you okay? Are you hurt? I'll come fetch you right away!"

"No, no, I'm fine." Kaoru said, finally gathering her wits together. Her stomach churned painfully once again. She was getting light-headed. "The car is in a big mess though. Oh Sano, I'm so sorry. I know you worked hard for this and…"

"I don't care about the car." Sano interrupted once again, sounding really concerned. "Where are you? Are there are any injuries?"

Kaoru shook her head despite the fact that Sano couldn't see her.

"No, I'm fine. I just need to know where you put your insurance. Sano, _please_ tell me you insured your car!"

"The insurance forms are in the trunk," he said quickly, causing humongous relief to flood Kaoru. "But listen, I don't know what happened, but don't worry about the car, okay? Just… make sure you're safe. The least thing I want to do is explain to mom that something happened to you."

Kaoru nodded once again despite the fact that Sano couldn't see her, knowing that he really was concerned.

"Thanks, I'll call you later."

With that said, she hung up and took a deep breath. She took the initiative to try and smile at the redhead as she walked up to the trunk and grabbed the proof of insurance. She saw that already he have his forms with him.

He smiled then.

"Guess this isn't a good time to do introductions, but I'm Kenshin Himura." He said, sticking out his hand for Kaoru to shake. She did, with a smile.

"Kaoru Kamiya. And listen, I'm really sorry about what happened. I guess today was just…"

She was cut off with a shrug and a smile.

"Oh well, it happens. And I'm quite sure you didn't do it on purpose."

Kaoru was ever so glad that Kenshin was such a nice person. She finally smiled genuinely at him as he smiled back.

"Listen," he started. "I've never actually been in an accident before, so I have no idea what we're supposed to do…" He said, trailing off on purpose. Kaoru felt bad all over again. She had caused him his first car wreck. God, how bad could this be?

"Me neither," she said. "This is my first time. But I do believe, since I'm at fault here, I need to give you my driver's license number and stuff."

Kaoru reached for her purse and started searching for her wallet. She suddenly felt extremely stupid and was embarrassed at the fact that her wallet wasn't there. She shyly looked up at Kenshin, who was smiling curiously at her. She sighed. What a _great_ day.

"You know what, I seem to have forgotten my wallet at home."

Kenshin's eyes widened and he laughed almost immediately. Kaoru, however, didn't find the situation funny at all.

She fished out a piece of paper and a pen, quickly scribbled down a couple of numbers, wrote her own name, and gave it to Kenshin, who hesitantly took it and eyed the paper curiously. Kaoru realized then that he was extremely good looking and would have been undoubtedly interested in him if they had met on a different occasion. It wasn't everyday you see such an eye candy with such a sweet personality as his.

She could only explain what the paper was all about.

"That's my phone number. I want you to be able to call me if you need anything. And in fact, it would be nice if you give me your number to." She said easily, giving him another piece of paper.

Kenshin raised an eyebrow but scribbled his number nonetheless. Kaoru took it and placed it on her purse the moment he gave it to her.

Then, as if on cue, her stomach churched wildly again and it was all Kaoru could do to not whimper. Instead, she leaned over painfully, reaching over Kenshin's car for support. She didn't know whether he was the type of person who would appreciate a stranger touching his car, seeing how expensive it was, but she didn't have the energy to do anything else. Heck, she already ruined it for all she cared at this moment.

Her head was pounding, echoing some incoherent loud noise that made her ears deaf. Suddenly she felt extremely sick. She wanted to throw up.

"Miss Kaoru? Are you alright?"

Somewhere at the edge of her mind, she could hear a concerned voice talking to her. She realized that was Kenshin.

Kaoru lifted her hand, waving it off as if telling him everything was fine. But then her stomach churned once more, its acid flooding for the demand of food. Her head was light and dizzy and she couldn't take it anymore.

She ran as fast as possible to a dirty trashcan on the corner of an alley that she would otherwise wouldn't even dare touch, and she threw up. There was nothing there to vomit except for the water and coffee she drank that day to try to satisfy her empty stomach. With each violent jerk of her insides being forced out, she felt her legs weakened and her head's pounding growing in strength. Her eyes secreted tears as she once again jerked and threw up.

Finally, when she was done, she felt icky, disgusted. Her mouth was bitter and sour, her head unrealistically light and painful. Her stomach… don't even let her start on how painful her stomach was.

She leaned back on the dirty walls to catch her breath. She felt really dizzy then, and if it weren't for his astounding red hair, Kaoru wouldn't have noticed Kenshin standing before her.

"Miss Kaoru, are you alright?" He asked, voice filled with concern and alarm.

Kaoru, although still feeling ridiculously sick, managed to whisper to say that she was fine. Her stomach did feel slightly better after throwing up the majority of the acid.

Kenshin gave her a skeptical look however. Obviously he didn't believe her.

"Do you want me to call a doctor?"

"No, no, I'm fine." Kaoru whispered, finally regaining enough energy to stand up correctly. Upon seeing the unconvinced look on Kenshin's face however, she tried to smile.

"I just need food, that's all. I haven't eaten anything at all since yesterday's early dinner, which was at the ridiculous hour of five in the afternoon. Oh, except for a food-bar." She added, in an attempt to humor him. It didn't work.

Kenshin's eyes widened significantly as he stared at his watch. It was well past seven, which meant that she hadn't eaten anything for around twenty-six hours. Yes, food-bars don't count.

He frowned. Going that long without food is insane, to say the least. But she must have had her reasons.

She didn't look like the anorexic type. Which meant that she must had been dying for food, but for some unknown reason, unable to get them.

Then he glanced at their cars. Perhaps that's also the reason why she couldn't focus on the road.

He stared at her again, who was closing her eyes in an attempt to regain her composure. He smiled inwardly then, deciding that he had nothing better to do anyway.

And he would be lying to say that the girl before him did not interest him.

"You need to eat, then." He stated easily.

Kaoru opened her eyes and Kenshin noted they were magnificently sparkling blue. How intriguing. In fact, her whole self was intriguing, a fact he noted the moment he saw her. Her hair was somehow messy, tightly tied on a high ponytail. But she was wearing a professional set of black suit and skirt, with a pair of heels that clearly was supposed to clash with her hair, but somehow didn't. She looked sharp, smart, but at the same time innocent and childlike.

Kenshin was then much more than interested.

"Yeah, I do." She said, to answer his previous statement. "But I can do that once we're finished taking care of this. Besides, I left my wallet at home, remember? So I can't even _buy_ food."

He noted her scornful sarcasm. He was a fan of sarcasm.

He smiled as he took a step closer to her and grabbed her arm, leading her to the main street and away from the dark alleyway. Kaoru was looking at him, perplexed and shocked at the same time.

"You just threw up really bad there." He commented, causing Kaoru to blush slightly from embarrassment. He noted she was really cute when she blushed too. He wasn't the type to just pick up random girls, especially one who had crash into his new car, but something about Kaoru just piqued his curiosity.

"We happen to stop by in front of Starbucks." He said easily, making it sound like it was fate. His statement caused Kaoru to look at the coffee shop. "Let's go in. We'll get you something to at least cover your hunger for a while."

Kaoru immediately shook her head no.

"Oh, I couldn't possibly…" She said. But Kenshin didn't bother waiting for her excuses as he dragged her gently to the warm, lighted, food-packed coffee shop.

The smell of delicious coffee and pastries filled the entire space. Kaoru's entire attempt at declining his offer stopped. Kenshin noticed this and smiled. She must be really hungry.

He told her to sit down on one of the couches while he waited in line to get her something. Kaoru wasn't sure whether that was such a good idea, but then her stomach churned painfully once again, and she decided there really wasn't anything she could do except to take a stranger's kindness.

Kenshin was back in a couple of minutes, setting a cup of steaming hot chocolate in front of her and a plate of various breads and cookies for her to eat. Kaoru hesitantly grabbed her drink, sipped it, and took a cookie to bite.

She then looked up and smiled at Kenshin, who was happily watching her eat.

"Kenshin, you're a nice person. Thank you so much."

Kenshin laughed at that.

"Well, I couldn't possibly leave you alone, could I? You looked like you were about to pass out. What led to you to starve yourself today, anyway?" He asked because he was genuinely interested.

Kaoru sighed and for some reason, perhaps because it was high time she ranted about her day to someone, or because something about Kenshin was just that familiar to her, she told him her story.

When she was finished and had a couple more lovely conversations with Kenshin, all of the food was gone and she was sipping on her now-not-so-hot hot chocolate. Kaoru noted Kenshin's attire, his upbringing. Easily, she could tell that he was, to put it bluntly, rich. From his clothes, to the way he speaks, it all gave him away. Kaoru concluded that perhaps his affluent background was the reason he could act so splendid towards her even though she had just literally crashed his new car.

It was a good one hour after they had first seated themselves in that corner. Both didn't seem to notice however, until Kaoru's phone blasted off. She looked at it and noticed Sano was calling her.

She picked up and realized that he was worried about her and was already in her apartment to wait for her. Kaoru voiced her appreciation to her older brother before she hang up and noticed the time. She gasped.

"I'm afraid I have to go, Kenshin. It was really nice meeting you."

Kenshin didn't hide his disappointment at her sudden departure as the two walked towards the door.

"It was really nice to get to know you too, Kaoru."

They were outside now, and were staring at their cars once again. Kaoru sighed, the feeling of guilt and regret flooding through her once again. When she was talking to him inside, she had completely forgotten about the crash.

"Listen, call me about this later, okay? I'm sure my brother will help me handle this, since he knows so much more about accidents than I do." She said, smiling slightly. Kenshin observed her for a moment, and despite the fact that he was rather upset about his car, he decided that at least he got to meet this wonderful lady.

He smiled.

"Oh, I will definitely call you, Kaoru."

And Kaoru blushed despite herself, because she understood the deeper meaning under his words.

* * *

**Author's Scribbles  
**Oh my, what happened to February? What happened to March? What... why is it April already?

- Looks up to the skies and hears the birds chirping...-

Oh well, my apologies everyone. Haha, life is getting the better of me. I promise the next update will be faster. Till then, please, please review. They make me continue on writing. Let's just do this, everytime there's 3 reviews, I'll increase my update rate twofold, alright? Lol, I really shouldn't make promises I couldn't keep... but yes, **review please**!

Oh, and on a personal note, this one was somewhat based on a true story. My friend's current boyfriend was someone whose car she crashed. It was sweet and random in a weird way...

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**-prohibited-**


	4. D for Dinner

**Alphabets**

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**Disclaimer**  
Standard disclaimer applies. I do not own anything.

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**Word Count  
**2707

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**# 4 - D for _Dinner_**

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"You were supposed to be here quite a while ago."

Amethyst eyes looked up at the snappiness of her tone.

"I'm sorry." He did sound extremely so. "The meeting ran over time and I hit rush hour."

"You didn't pick up your phone either."

"You called? Oh, I'm sorry; I still had the phone on silent mode…"

"You could have called me."

"True, but…"

"Dinner's all cold." She didn't even wait for his explanation.

He sighed, taking his suit off and untying his tie.

"I'm sorry honey, but really, do you have to pick a fight? I mean, today of all days?"

"It's because it _is_ today that I'm not happy for such a trivial matter. Frankly, I'm surprised you even remember today."

"Oh Kaoru, of course I remember."

There was a moment's silence where he collapsed to the chair across from her at the dining table.

"I can see that you're tired."

"I am." He closed his eyes and she observed him.

Here she finally sighed and slowly stood up from the dining table. Her irritation was suddenly wiped out due to hunger and, of course, the worn out figure of her husband.

Wiping imaginary dust from her fluffy bath robe, she began to collect the plates holding the perfectly beautiful dinner she had just fixed merely hours ago. They were now, as she had commented seconds ago, stone cold.

"What are you doing?"

She didn't miss a beat at the question, instead balancing herself to bring four plates all at once.

"I'm putting these on the microwave."

"You don't have to. I'll always enjoy your cooking, cold or not." He smiled sincerely, a smile he would only show to his wife. A smile that would usually send Kaoru all aflutter. But not today. She gave him a small, slightly sardonic smile.

"Kenshin, this is by far the best dinner I've ever made in my entire life. This is also by far the most energy and effort I've ever put in fixing dinner in my entire being. The least I can do is eat it warm."

Closing the microwave, she was punching in the exact number of minutes she wanted the food to be warmed when she suddenly felt someone standing behind her.

Kenshin placed both his hands on Kaoru's hips, gently pulling her back towards his muscled chest.

"Kaoru, I'm sorry."

Kaoru closed her eyes at the proximity of her husband and breathed in his scent and sighed. She loved him.

"I know, I'm sorry too. I was being inconsiderate myself."

"No, no… let's not start the blame game."

He turned her so that their eyes met. He smiled. He leaned down and was somewhat amused when he realized he caught Kaoru off guard. She probably didn't realize that he was about to kiss her just seconds after they ended their miniscule argument.

He only closed his eyes when their kiss heated up, in order to see into the depths of Kaoru's sapphire eyes as long as possible. Kaoru closed her eyes at the same time Kenshin did.

Just as the two of them were about to become overridden by their emotions and was about to take their make out session to another level, the microwave beeped so loud it was enough to stop the couple.

Panting for breath, Kaoru smiled and pressed her fingers on her husband's moist, slightly swollen lips.

"I want you to try my cooking first."

"I've always tried your cooking. And I've always loved it."

He said it as if he was slightly offended. She laughed, turning around to take out the food and to replace it with another.

"Yes, though I doubt the credibility of your statement since no one else ever seem to think along similar lines as you."

"And I keep on telling you that each person's tasting buds send different signals to their brain. Thus, arguably, their nerves and brains have problems."

"You are so good at making excuses." Kaoru said, giggling slightly, her back leaning against the kitchen's table after she turned the microwave on again.

"You're wrong. I'm not good at making excuses." Kenshin said, kissing her forehead. Kaoru giggled once again.

"No?"

"No. I'm just great at making my wife happy."

"So that's why you're saying all those nonsense about my cooking skills? Just for the sake of making me happy?"

"Of course not. I should have phrased that differently. My whole being is just made to make my wife happy."

"Cheesy, but okay."

"It's not cheesy when you're obviously flushed with joy when I say it."

She rolled her eyes and once again turned around to retrieve the food and replace it with another, amusement clearly present in her sapphire eyes.

* * *

"Did you realize you first asked me out over dinner?"

"I did?"

"You forgot? Yeah, you were cooking dinner too. You were still living in that old apartment, with Sano. I can't believe you forgot."

"Oh right! Of course I remember. You said that I cooked my rice too dry."

"I did?"

"You forgot?" He retorted back, smiling. "I was so devastated because I was trying to make the whole evening go the way I planned it and your first comment was, 'Kenshin, your rice is _hard'_. And you were really snappy about it too. What was I supposed to say to that? You totally shattered my courage and I struggled with myself for the rest of the night, wondering whether I should ask you out or not."

She was amused.

"I can't believe I said that! I mean, I practically couldn't even be in the kitchen without exploding things back then."

"Well, despite that, you were still criticizing my rice."

She laughed. He observed her, smiling. He had sounded so sad, like a child being scolded by his mother.

"Well then, be glad that your skills at cooking rice have improved."

"Wow, that just made my day."

"Easy with the sarcasm, sweetie." Kaoru commented, smiling and making as if to wave off his comment. Kenshin smiled back.

"What sarcasm are you talking about, Kaoru? You really _did_ just make my day."

"Oh, please..." Kaoru said, rolling her sapphire eyes, her amusement barely concealed. Kenshin's smile didn't falter as he changed the topic.

"Speaking of which, I also proposed to you during dinner, right?"

"Yes you did. Shocked me witless, you did."

"You're telling me about how witless you are. _I _was the one who had to pop up the question."

"Well, you know I was going to say yes anyway."

"Don't say it as if you're commenting on the weather. You were the one who couldn't even look me straight in the eye after our first kiss."

She almost choked on her water, cutting off Kenshin's next explanation. Kaoru interrupted him,

"Why are we bringing up the past anyway?"

"Because you started it. And also, because it's our anniversary."

"_Third_ anniversary, mind you."

"How could I forget?"

She shrugged, picking up her knife and fork and began slicing her steak.

"I still say we should have gone out and celebrate. I feel bad for making you fix all these."

"I still say that going out would be too normal. I mean, all couples do that. Also, it would take too much effort on my part. And you're not just saying that because you don't like what I fixed, are you?"

"You love to dress up. And of course not. How could you even say that? You know I love your cooking. They're the best. I thought we just went over this."

"Kenshin Himura, do you _not_ know your wife? I _hate_ to dress up, I only do so whenever it's necessary. And I know you like my cooking, I was just teasing you."

"But you look so beautiful whenever you dress up. And I know you love it when you feel beautiful. Then again, you look beautiful every day in my eyes."

Kaoru blushed a bit and Kenshin laughed, amused at how much his words could affect the lovely lady before him.

The two went back on to their dinner and was quiet for a few moments. Soon however, Kaoru started shaking with suppressed laughter before she snapped and was laughing so hard, she was crying with mirth. Her husband observed her, his amusement causing him to grin.

"Okay, that whole conversation was _so_ weird. Why did we sound like some rigid couple that grew up in the 19th century?"

"It _was_ weird. But if you think about it, we've always had weird conversations."

"Oh my god, I totally know what you're talking about. Remember our first date?"

"Do I… Kaoru, of course I remember our first date."

"You don't sound too happy about it."

"You, on the other hand, seem to be glowing with delight."

"Oh stop with the frown. It was partly your fault too, you know. You can't blame me for laughing at the memory."

"He was your _ex_, Kaoru. The ex that took you more than a year to get over with. I was there when you guys ended your relationship and I saw how much you liked him, okay? You were crying your eyes out and eating nothing other than ice creams and chocolates for a fortnight! You technically rejected my first time trying to ask you out because you still had feelings for him. How was I suppose to react when he just suddenly popped up in the middle of our dinner?"

"Yeah, but don't you think that yelling at him and demanding the restaurant to kick him out was just a _tiny_ bit more than necessary? He was there with his parents too, for goodness sakes."

"Are you defending him?"

"What? That's stupid. Of course not."

Kenshin breathed in a sigh of relief, causing Kaoru to stop drinking her water. She then laughed heartily again, causing him to look up from his food.

"What?"

"Oh my god, you're still _that_ insecure about a guy whom I've regard as a friend for the last six years?"

"You're one to talk. You went all white when Tomoe went to my birthday dinner."

Kaoru's amusement evaporated in less than a fraction of a second.

"She's different."

"Oh? How so?"

"You actually invited her and…"

"Correction, Akira invited her."

"Details." Kaoru rolled her eyes. "Doesn't change the fact that she was actually _invited_. And we all know that she's exceptionally gorgeous that no sane man could refuse her charm."

"Oh, you and your exaggerations. And you do realize that by saying that, you're calling me insane?"

"Okay, even _Megumi_ admitted that she's gorgeous and we all know Megumi. Who else had that fox ever claim to be more beautiful than herself? Only her own grandmother, and that was when the ninety-year-old was young too." Kaoru pointedly ignored Kenshin's latter statement.

"Well, whatever you say." Kenshin narrowed his eyes, as if not believing her. "You know I was the one who ended our relationship, so what are you worrying about?"

"People change their minds all the time."

"But you know I love you." He said that as if it was the solution to everything.

"I was young, hormone-driven, and insecure. Cut me some slack."

Kenshin slowly grinned.

"So you do admit that you were jealous of her."

Kaoru paused her chewing before rolling her eyes and grumbled under her breath something that Kenshin couldn't hear. He caught her in a corner and he knew it. He was more than amused.

"What was that?"

"Oh this is ridiculous. We're married, why are we still acting like a high school couple?"

"Because you love me too much."

"And you don't?"

"Of course I do. What kind of question is that?"

"A good one. One that is necessary to be asked occasionally."

Kenshin paused, chewing on his food. Then,

"Do you?"

"Do I what?"

He took a drink of his wine.

"Do you love me?"

Kaoru smirked. Kenshin flustered.

"Of course I do. You're the only man I'll ever consider of calling my husband."

He smiled. She ate her food.

"So how was your day?" He asked. She swallowed her food first before replying.

"I just remember I have a message to tell you. Megumi's telling me to tell you to tell Sano that she's going to move out and send him the divorce papers via snail mail if he does not stop his gambling habits."

Kenshin raised an eyebrow, piercing a mushroom with his fork.

"They're still on that? I don't get it, why doesn't she just tell him herself?"

"Because she's Megumi, and she's just high maintenance like that."

"It's not good for their baby. All that stress is bound to influence it."

"You're not the doctor. Megumi is. Let them be. I mean, it's amusing."

"Kaoru, you're her best friend."

She blinked at him innocently.

"Kenshin, do you _not_ know how Sano and Megumi's marriage work? They thrive on arguments."

Kenshin chuckled and shrugged.

"I still can't picture Sano becoming a father."

"You can't?"

"You mean you _can_?" Kenshin asked, his turn in blinking innocently at Kaoru. Kaoru shrugged.

"At least he's full of emotions, you know? I can't imagine Aoshi as a father. Of course the paradox is that he _is_ a father, with twins to boot. Misao was one miraculous woman for giving birth to the cutest, most plumpy twins in the world when she herself is so petite."

"Aoshi will be the perfect father when his kids are teenagers. Sano would be the worst. He'll probably let them do whatever they want. He'll probably teach them personally how to drink before his children are legal."

"You've got to be joking." Kaoru replied, but couldn't help holding similar suspicions in the back of her head. "But, what about you?"

"What about me?"

"I don't know. What kind of a father would you be to your teenage kids?"

Kenshin almost choked on his water. Thank god it wasn't wine. Wine leaves a taste when you choked on it.

"Me?"

"I mean, we're talking about all of our friends here. Can you see yourself as being a father?"

Kenshin was about to answer when Kaoru whispered,

"Cause you're about to be one in around seven months."

Kenshin remained silent for what seemed like an eternity, Kaoru observing him with an amused expression.

"What?"

"You heard me."

"What?!"

"I said, _you heard me_."

"I… what? You mean… Kaoru, are you…?"

Kaoru smiled, amused, at her husband's reactions. She had expected him to be shocked, but to sputter like a toddler was one she did not expect.

"Oh my god…"

Kaoru stood up, starting to clean her dinner. She was done with her food, and from the looks of it, so was her husband, who, at the time being, was still staring at her with his huge, violet eyes.

"Oh my god…"

"Kenshin, if you're done with your food, put the dishes in the sink."

"Oh – my – god! Kaoru, you're pregnant?"

Kaoru, after placing her own dishes in the sink, turned around and was surprised to see Kenshin standing at such a close proximity. She giggled.

"Yes, I a…"

She couldn't finish those three words, because Kenshin had crushed her into his chest, hugging her so tight she swore her breath escaped her without her wanting it to. Then, the next second, Kenshin took hold of both of her shoulders and pushed her so that she was an arms-length away from him, observing her as if she was a porcelain doll.

"Oh my god, I didn't hug you too tight, did I? I didn't hurt the baby…"

"Goodness Kenshin, calm down. Your wife and your baby are stronger than you think, okay?" Kaoru said, chuckling slightly. Kenshin let out a breath of relief, causing Kaoru to chuckle some more.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I just found out this morning when I was visiting Megumi. I mean, I guess I could have called you. But I wanted to tell you over dinner."

At that instant, Kenshin looked at her with this look in his eyes, this look that made Kaoru, in that explicit second, knew she was glad at the fact that she was alive.

"I love dinner. That was a good idea." He said, kissing his wife senseless.

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**Author's Scribbles**  
This drabble took a lot of effort on my part. In the beginning, I totally didn't know what to write for "D". My first attempt was to make "Doctors" as the theme, but that turned out rather dry and much too long for a one-shot. My second attempt was to make "Dresses" as the theme, but I thought the idea was already abused to near-death and the plot seemed pointless. So I decided to do "Dinner", just because I went over to my cousin's for one and what resulted was the conversation above (with my part of the conversation deleted, of course). It was rather weird though, my cousin telling her husband that she's pregnant right in front of her baby cousin (my twenty-year-old self), and her husband kissing the life out of her. It really made me all warm and happy inside, though I was pretty much ignored for the rest of the night (which I totally understand... it was sort of awkward after that).

Anyway, how did you like it? This was a pretty fast update, congratulate me! Haha, with no intention of being demanding, I appreciate all of your reviews. Thanks for all of them! Oh, and I also do accept suggestions. Currently the letter "E" is already on the making, but feel free to tell me what you think would be interesting for other letters. If I think I can go along with your idea, I would totally do that, and give you credit. Lol!

Oh, oh, oh, for those of you who read (or used to read) my other story, **Long Vacation**, be warned that an update will most probably show itself pretty soon (one to two weeks time). Yes, we can all rejoice and scream "finally Prohibited is getting off her lazy ass and decided to continue the damn story". Joy.

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**-prohibited-**


	5. E for Elegant

**Alphabets**

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**Disclaimer**  
Standard disclaimer applies. I do not own anything.

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**Word Count  
**3672

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**# 5 - E for _Elegant_**

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The adjective word elegant was one that was a love-hate descriptive word for the ears of Kaoru Kamiya.

In a sense, she admired it. To be elegant meant to be like the few people whom she adored in life. Her late mother and, of course, her two older sisters.

But in another sense, she hated it. To be elegant meant to be stiff, rigid. She couldn't smile when she wanted to, couldn't laugh rowdily when she found a funny situation.

But more than anything else, perhaps, Kaoru was intimidated by the word.

For a woman, no matter how accomplished you are, no matter how beautiful you are, to be described as elegant is something that is so out there, so sacred, so… _heavy_.

Kaoru wanted that description, but at the same, she despised it.

Her sapphire eyes glanced up at the new family portrait before her. Being the youngest daughter of three, it was surprising she showed a stark contrast towards her elder sisters. That contrast was youth. Kaoru bit her lower lips.

Her father stood at the right side of the picture, smiling the gentle smile that was his trademark. He was a handsome figure despite his age. Perhaps due to his stressful job of being the member of the Diet (in other words, being a senator), tiny wrinkles creased his face, but only accenting his certain authoritative, don't-mess-with-me charisma.

To his left stood Akira Kiyosato, her oldest sister's husband, thus making him Kaoru's brother-in-law. He and Tomoe had been married for the past two years. The latest news was that Tomoe was expecting.

Just below Akira, sitting on a chair, was Tomoe. Black hair, black eyes, snowy white skin, and a timeless smile. Kaoru observed her picture for a long time.

Tomoe Kamiya-Kiyosato. All the essence of pure beauty and kindness. Though their belated mother's picture was not present in the current family portrait, Tomoe was a striking resemblance of her.

She had her own charisma, one that ensured people looked twice at her before forced to looking away, due to her outstanding beauty. Her beauty, Kaoru had realized ever since she knew how to process the abstract concept in her brain, was soft, endearing, lovely. It was classical, timeless, and one cannot help but to feel at ease whenever they see her. She was the perfect image of, for lack of better description, a mother.

Of course, her personality was not much different from that either. Tomoe was, to put simply, the absolute image of a timeless, elegant woman.

Sitting below their father, on the right side of the chair, was Kaoru's other sister, Megumi. Same black hair, but definitely shinier due to the amount of attention she placed on it. Same black eyes, but definitely sharper than Tomoe's.

Megumi Kamiya. All the essence of striking beauty and intelligence. If Tomoe resembled their mother, Megumi resembled their father. Again, she had a charisma of her own, one that was different from the oldest of the three Kamiya sisters.

Tomoe's charisma was one of pure tranquility, of relaxation. Megumi's was an aura of intelligence, of control, of fully being in charge of the situation. Her every being was planned, organized, intact. Not a hair out of place, not a wrinkle in her branded, expensive clothes.

At the age of twenty-seven, she was already a permanent resident in the best hospital in their area, having graduated abroad from a prestitious Ivy-leauge school with her MD degree. Her occupation was a neurologist. Kaoru was ensured all those days she spent cutting open people's brain must have had something to do with her sharp attitude towards the world.

Megumi was beautiful, to say the least. Not only was she the perfect image of a career woman, her brain boosted her value even more. To say that she was intelligent would be an appalling understatement.

Megumi intimidates females and attracts males like honeysuckles attract bees, and she knew this. She didn't hesitate to use this to her advantage too. This was Megumi Kamiya, an accomplished woman who knew her limitations, knew her advantages, and does not hesitate to use them. Megumi was, to put it simply, the absolute image of an intelligent, elegant woman.

Kaoru's eyes shifted then to the last figure in the family portrait. Placed in the center of the photograph, cushioned between her two out-of-the-world sisters, sat Kaoru Kamiya – young, immature, boyish, and by far not elegant.

She looked so out of place in that picture.

She bit back a frown and her eyes burned. Years and years (decades, perhaps?) of pent up frustration, of unrivaled rivalry, of intimidation, of loving, of adoring, all caused her to be overly sensitive when it comes to her two sisters.

How could she look so damn _ugly_ when she was wearing the same dress Tomoe had used for their last family portrait? Because Tomoe was anything but that. Tomoe had been her usual pretty, dignified self in their previous picture.

Kaoru abused her lips again torturously and soon, she tasted her own blood. The tears fell from her eyes.

"Kaoru?"

That was her father's voice. Hastily, she wiped the tears away with her hand, making it seem as if she was scratching her eyes. She hoped she could fool her father.

She turned around and prepared her usual smile.

"What is it, daddy?"

But her smile faltered when she saw that Kenshin was with Mr. Kamiya.

Damn, why was Kenshin here?

Kenshin, her boyfriend, never failed to see the tiniest details when it comes to herself. Of course, that probably meant he knew she was silently crying just now.

Her hypothesis was confirmed when she saw how the redhead's amethyst eyes narrowed suspiciously. But his continued silence told Kaoru that he wasn't going to make a big deal out of it. His look however, promised future inquiry.

"Observing the family portrait again, are you?" Her father's comment skid her thoughts to an end. She looked up at him. He was smiling at her before returning back to the portrait.

"You always have a strong fascination to them. Why?"

Kaoru's eyes widened. It was a simple question, supposedly. But it stumped her. It wasn't because she didn't know the answer. No, it was the exact opposite. She gave a hollow smile before hiding behind her bangs.

Then she was all cheerful smiles in a flash.

"Rather than worrying about trivial matters like that, shouldn't we prepare ourselves to go to Tomoe's now?"

"Ah yes, that was the original intention I was out here trying to find you. That, and the fact that Kenshin was here just moments ago." Mr. Kamiya turned around, making as if he was about to leave the two alone.

"We will leave for the dinner in fifteen minutes, Kaoru."

Kaoru silently nodded her head at her father's retreating form. Sighing, she looked up at her boyfriend, who was observing her quietly.

"Excited for Tomoe's cooking?"

Kenshin raised an eyebrow at the sharp tone of her voice. Something about her tone showed her cynicism to the world. He moved closer to her and smiled.

"Princess, did you have a bad day?" He questioned, teasing her slightly in a feeble hope of amusing the girl.

Kaoru hmph-ed and turned away, obviously his attempt did not work. She was glad that she no longer needed to prepare for the dinner, seeing that she was already dressed nice enough for it, and Kenshin, of course, was too.

Tonight's dinner was to celebrate Tomoe's pregnancy.

She took a seat on the humongous living room, not at all surprised when Kenshin sat next to her.

A part of her felt bad for being so selfish, so immature, so… not elegant. Her eyes widened at the realization and new set of tears threatened its way to her eyes. She blinked it away rapidly.

Kenshin noticed this and frowned.

"Kaoru, what's wrong?"

Kaoru refused to answer and instead turned around and hugged the man with as much force as she could, to let her know that he was there, to let her believe that the man she so dearly loved was truly existent. The randomness of her action surprised him, but within moments he was returning her embrace with as much comfort he could offer, which meant the whole world for her.

* * *

Kaoru met Kenshin because of Tomoe.

Kenshin's original interest was with her eldest sister, and this was a fact that's been eating Kaoru's consciousness for the whole three years she's been with him. Despite the fact that they ended their small relationship before anything started, it still hurt her conscious, knowing the man she so dearly loved had chosen her sister prior to herself. Of course the fact that he knew of Tomoe first was not a good enough excuse for Kaoru.

Dinner was delicious, as always. Nothing Tomoe made, house-hold wise, was ever less than perfect. So why change now?

The apartment was packed. Megumi and her current on-and-off boyfriend of two years, Sanosuke, were there too.

Having finished eating, all the individuals were scattered around the limited space that was the living room. Kaoru was sitting on the couch, holding a glass of champagne and was sitting quite alone. Kenshin was currently talking with her father, both looking very serious. She sighed.

"You're not your usual cheerful, annoying self today. Anything wrong?"

Kaoru looked up, surprised to see that Megumi was taking a seat next to her right.

"No, nothing's wrong." Was her immediately reply.

"Stop lying, sister. It doesn't suit you."

Kaoru looked to her other side and was again surprised to see Tomoe taking a seat on her other side. Somehow their position reminded her of the family portrait. Kaoru frowned.

"I said, nothing's wrong with me. So stop worrying about it." She mentally grimaced. Why, oh why must she snap? Now her lies are all as good as never told.

Megumi raised an eyebrow and Tomoe smiled slightly.

"What's with the attitude, little sister?" Megumi feigned indifference, flicking her fingers at the tip of Kaoru's nose, causing Kaoru to "eep" in shock.

"Our little princess had a bad day?" Tomoe calmly asked.

Kaoru stared at the eldest of the three. That was the exact same question Kenshin had asked her. Well, similar enough at least. She gritted her teeth at the sudden, ugly jealousy she was suddenly consumed with.

She gulped the full-glassed champagne in one chug, causing both of her sisters to stare at her in shock. She then stood up so suddenly, both Megumi and Tomoe had to lean back in the couch due to surprise. Kaoru looked at the two of them with immature anger before stomping away.

Rudely, she slipped on her heels, exited herself out of Tomoe's apartment, and closed the door with a bang.

The rest of the apartment stood shell shocked at the sudden display of anger from the normally cheerful, albeit a little hormone-driven Kaoru.

"Wow, what's up with Jou-chan?"

All heads turned towards Sano, who effectively had broken the surprised silence. Mr. Kamiya shook his head, taking a seat beside Megumi and sighing deeply.

"That silly girl…"

Tomoe gave a sad smile, also shaking her head. Megumi sighed, folding her arms elegantly as she leaned back on the couch.

"Really," the surgeon commented. "One would think she would realize by now. She never sees her own attraction."

Tomoe's smile was gentle when she observed the door Kaoru slammed just moments ago.

"That girl places too much burden on herself for her own good. Silly, silly girl."

Suddenly, immediately, Kenshin slipped on his own pair of shoes and ran after Kaoru, leaving the rest of the apartment to stare at him. After a moment of brief silence, Megumi laughed.

"I somehow have a feeling Ken-san understands, though."

Tomoe smiled at her younger sister.

"Of course he does. Kenshin is always paying attention over Kaoru. Always, from the start. From the moment he laid his eyes on her." Then she turned towards her father and smiled the somewhat intimidating smile that only few people have seen from Tomoe.

Once she smiled _the_ smile, no matter what you do, you can't say no to her.

"Father dear, I guess you have no option but to say yes to Kenshin's previous question then, yes?"

Mr. Kamiya could only sigh and shook his head.

* * *

"Kaoru!"

She heard her name and she knew it was Kenshin. But she didn't stop.

"Kaoru!"

Such persistent fool. Then again, didn't she love him for that particular attribute?

Perhaps it was because she was wearing heels, or perhaps it was just because Kenshin was faster than her, that he caught her shoulder and turned her around. He wasn't surprised to see the tears streaming unchecked on her pretty, cute face.

He smiled.

His smile infuriated her. How dare he! Mocking her when she was in such a mess. She knew she should have known better, for no way in the landscape of the earth was Kenshin that inconsiderate. But today, she wasn't feeling well, wasn't thinking well. Maybe she was having PMS. She shook off his hold on her.

"Why did you come after me?"

Her question caused him to raise an eyebrow.

"Was I supposed to have stayed there and ignore my girlfriend's frustrations?"

"If that's what you really wanted to do, I wouldn't hold it against you." She snapped. Kenshin chuckled.

"And why would you think I would rather be over there rather than be with you?"

"Because Tomoe is there."

Kaoru said that before she had time to reflect the meanings such a statement imply. Kenshin arched an eyebrow and his cheerfulness was gone in an instant.

Kaoru regretted saying that, but she was too angry to care as of this moment. She turned around and started walking again.

"Has this got anything to do with the family portrait?"

His quiet question stopped her. Kaoru couldn't hold it anymore. Everyone was interfering with her business. Everyone wanted a piece of her insecure self. Everyone wanted to ridicule the fact that she was the worst, the ugliest, the least accomplished of the Kamiya sisters.

She turned around and Kenshin observed the tears streaming down her face even faster than before.

"Yes! It has _everything_ to do with the family portrait! It has everything to do with the fact that Tomoe and Megumi are my two older sisters, whom I love with all my heart. It has everything to do with my ugly, disgusting, bitter feelings! I want to, for the first time in my life, surpass them in just one single thing. I want to be beautiful! I want to be accomplished! I want to be _elegant_!

"It has everything to do with the fact that I'm disgusted at myself for having such ugly feelings! It has everything to do with the fact that I know I can never be Tomoe! I know I can never be Megumi! It has everything to do with the fact that you love Tomoe first before you love me! I am a horrible person at heart! Are you happy now that you know my disgusting self?"

Kenshin stared, somewhat shocked at Kaoru's sudden outbreak. He hadn't expected her to feel such pressure compared to her sisters. She had always been so cheerful. He smiled before he reached out and, with his thumb, erased the tears away from her flushed face. Kaoru closed her eyes at the coolness of his hands, still sobbing for her inferiority.

"Oh Kaoru, you're so wrong in so many places."

And then, just because he couldn't help himself, he leaned down and took Kaoru's lips to a blissful kiss. It was short and light, because he didn't want to make it seem as if he's trying to shrug off her anger just through such actions.

"First of all, you're wrong to say that your feelings are ugly. Arguably, they are, but people are bound to have such pressure when their siblings are as accomplished as yours are. Especially when it's people like you, who always don't want to be a trouble for others."

Kaoru opened her eyes wide in surprise but Kenshin just smiled at her, his thumb still caressing her heated face.

"Second, you're wrong to say that you never surpassed both of them before. It certainly is true that Tomoe is the perfect homemaker and that Megumi is the perfect career woman, but the world does not limit itself to these things."

"Then tell me, which part of me is better than them?" Kaoru questioned skeptically.

"Oh Kaoru," Kenshin said, shaking his head. "Must I even start? Your smile, your openness, your ability to diffuse awkward situations, your ability to understand people's emotions, your ways around people to make them feel welcomed…"

"Tomoe could do all that! And so can Megumi!"

Kenshin shook his head again.

"Perhaps, but not at such an ease as you can. You have a natural talent with people. Tomoe's the perfect portrait. Megumi's an idol. They're both - I don't know - surreal and they blind and guard others away. You, on the other hand, are the person whose wanted most in the long run, because you make people feel comfortable around you. Your acceptance, Kaoru, your cheerfulness, your unguarded self, that's what makes people attracted to you. That's what makes me attracted to you.

"You're a series of contradiction. You're unpredictable, yet familiar at the same time. You are elegantly warm, like the sunshine."

Kenshin paused for a second, taking a deep breath. But Kaoru's mind went numb immediately. His words… those words she wanted so desperately to hear after all these years.

She… elegant?

"But," she said, shaking her head, as if telling herself to stop her hopes from getting too high. "You chose Tomoe first… you were attracted to her beauty first…"

"I would not deny that." Kenshin said, smiling sadly as if he was disappointed he still had to explain this to Kaoru. "But you stole my attention away immediately the moment I saw you for the first time. I believe you were sleeping in your living room couch at the time, taking a nap. Tomoe noticed how I couldn't take my eyes off of you, and that's when everything ended for us.

"My interest in Tomoe was only that of a young college student who was intrigued at his senpai's beauty and gentleness. My interest in you is that of a young adult who is intrigued at every aspect of your being, of every feature of you, of every single emotion you elicit. My interest in you is that of a man who wants a woman to love him, to share her life with his until the end of their days."

He smiled at Kaoru's speechless expression. He kissed her again, more passionately, more heated. Kaoru, this time, responded with as much vigor.

That simple explanation was all she needed to let go of her years of pent of pressure. She couldn't believe it. How on earth could this man change her whole _life_ with just a couple of words?

When the broke apart, both of them panting for breath, lips swollen from the kiss, Kenshin immediately crushed Kaoru to an engulfing hug. He breathed in her scent.

"I love you, Kaoru. Every part of you. Your innocence, your spirit, your warmth. You are the most elegant woman I've ever seen in my life."

Kaoru cried all over again. This time not because of anger. Definitely not because of anger.

* * *

"Wait, what question did Kenshin asked you, father?" Megumi asked, interested. Tomoe chuckled at the grunt their father elicited. Akira, who had overheard the previous conversation too, was amused.

When Mr. Kamiya refused to answer – it seemed like he was lost in his own deep thoughts – Tomoe took the liberty.

"He asked daddy for Kaoru's hand in marriage."

"Oh my god!" Megumi shrieked, not at all like her usual composed self. Well, special occasions require special attitudes.

"Wait, seriously?" When Tomoe only smiled, Megumi returned back to her father. "Daddy, is it true? Kenshin's going to propose soon?"

Mr. Kamiya grunted once more.

"Not soon. He said he just wanted to know whether I'm fine with him being Kaoru's husband in the future. He said he'd wait a couple more years, but he wanted me to know that he is planning on marrying my youngest daughter."

Megumi squealed and glanced at her elder sister, who was sharing her happiness with her.

"This is great news! Oh my god, wait till Kaoru hears this!"

"Megumi, of course you wouldn't blabber it to her, would you? That would be too cruel on Kenshin's part." Mr. Kamiya scolded. Megumi pouted and Tomoe laughed.

"So? How did you answer him? I've always known that Kaoru's the hardest for you to let go. You're not letting her taken away that easily, are you?" Megumi asked, not at all bitter of that statement. She loved Kaoru too much to understand her father's attraction to her. Out of the corners of her eyes, she suddenly observed Sanosuke. He had an interesting look of inspiration when he heard about Kenshin's question. Was he thinking what Megumi was thinking? She smirked and thought no way in hell was Sano going to propose to her soon.

Mr. Kamiya frowned slightly. His possessiveness of his youngest daughter was suddenly apparent. He wasn't arguing with the fact that Kaoru was, always had been, his most protected daughter.

"I told the young chap that it's too early to start thinking about marriage for Kaoru. But if he's in love with her, and she reciprocates the feeling just as much, then I would think about it in the future. If he ever hurt her in anyway though, I'll use all my political powers to ensure his life is ruined. I told him you don't mess with my cutest daughter and get away with it."

Tomoe and Megumi blinked at the somewhat bitter tone her father had spoken with. And they both laughed merrily.

* * *

**Author's Scribbles  
**I am on a roll! Wow, I'm surprised at myself. I've been updating, or at least posting, stories every week! This is unheard of. I don't know whether I should be happy with myself, considering that my school work is piling up, but I guess what's done is done, right? Haha, well anyway...

How do you like this one? Review, review!! Those reviews so make my day! Super, super thanks to **Doctor Kiba**, **RedWingedAngel002**, **skenshingumi**, **Adelaide MacGregor**, **sapphireracoongal**, **kenkao7rocks5forever**.

Thank you people! Let's hope I'll continue this and update again next week, ja?


	6. F for Funky

**Alphabets**

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**Disclaimer**  
Standard disclaimer applies. I do not own anything.

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**Word Count**  
3,380

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**# 6 - F for _Funky_**

* * *

Misao opened her mouth, made some incoherent noise, and settled by closing her mouth once again.

Aoshi observed her with the slightest bit of amusement, but the majority of his attention was still placed on the person standing next to him.

Kenshin had a scowl on his face, crossing his arms impatiently across his chest as he waited for Misao's next comment. The stupefied girl's brain, however, seemed to lack its fuel, causing her to lack the ability to retort back her usual smart comment.

The scowl turned into a victorious grin. Misao's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"It's true, isn't it?"

Her mouth turned downward in displeasure. She clicked her tongue.

"You know, some guys actually _relish_ the idea of having girls who's never been kissed before."

Kenshin shrugged, all the posture of ignorance and nonchalance. But the smirk on his face really showed his true character.

"It's just weird. She's like a baby."

"A baby." Misao repeated, eyes wide with sudden realization – Kenshin was dumb. Did Kenshin not know who he was talking about?

Kenshin didn't even spare her a nod, instead turning his attention to the silent man between the two of them.

"Aoshi, about that meeting next week, do you know whether my assistant have reserved my plane tickets or not?"

If Aoshi was about to answer, the petite woman beside him didn't give him the chance.

"You know, you can act all mighty and cool to impress the whole world if you want, but you do realize you're being a jerk in front of my eyes right now?"

That effectively brought both men's attention back to her. Misao didn't flinch. Defending her best friend's dignity was very important to her, after all.

Kenshin's frown returned back to his elegant face.

"I'm sorry Misao, but I just don't feel the same way towards her. What more can I do?"

"Oh, I don't know." She bit out sarcastically, placing a hand on her hip in impatience. "Perhaps, try to see her without your preexisting judgments?"

Kenshin's frown deepened, and if Misao hadn't known him long enough, she might have thought he was going to snap at her. He probably would, but hell, her friend's pride was on the line.

"I do not have preexisting judgments about her. You cannot deny, however, that my first impression of her could not be regarded as magnificent."

"What? She was beautiful! Do you not know how many guys are waiting in line just to have a chance to talk to her?"

He arched an eyebrow and sighed. Misao had the impression that he was wasting each passing second talking to her, probably because he could spend this exact time doing something more productive like, say, doing his job. But whatever, his job can wait. Misao was so pissed she didn't give a damn.

"Well then tell her to talk to _those_ guys. I don't see what's so interesting about me. I'm much too old for her. Tell her to have fun with those college guys her age."

"First you're saying she's a baby, now you're just saying she's immature. Pretty judgmental, aren't you?"

"Misao," Kenshin groaned. "Stop putting words in my mouth. I'm just saying that I don't feel anything towards her, and it's not like I can do anything about it."

Misao knew then that she really couldn't say anything else without further jeopardizing her friend's dignity, thus she changed tactics.

"Fine. But what is it that is so unappealing about her anyway? Other than the fact that she's an immature baby, of course." Misao rolled her eyes at her own sarcasm.

Kenshin paused, as if contemplating whether he should answer the question or not. One look upon Misao's eyes, however, told him he should get this over with. The faster, the better – like ripping off a band-aid.

"I don't know," he said, exasperated. "I guess she's just not my type. She's too… what's the word I'm looking for…" he trailed of, trying to find the perfect adjective in his list of vocabularies. He couldn't seem to put his finger on it. He sighed.

"I guess it's what you college kids call funky."

Misao stared. Misao blanched. Misao took a step back.

Now, _that_ was unheard of.

* * *

"He said _what_?"

"He said you're too funky for his liking."

"Funky?"

"Funky."

"Wait, _what_?"

Kaoru just couldn't make sense the piece of news Misao had just told her. Kenshin Himura, the man who had been the center of her attraction for the last couple of weeks had just said she was _funky_?

"You heard me, girl."

Kaoru shook her head in shock and confusion as Misao gave her a knowing, sad smile. The petite girl shook her head.

"I would suggest you just let the man go. I mean, I know I was the one who introduced the two of you and I know he's a great guy, but no man is worth the time when he couldn't even see your beauty."

Kaoru heard her, but she wasn't listening.

"What the hell does he mean by funky? Does he even know what the word means?"

Misao almost rolled her eyes.

"I'm sure he knows what the word means, Kaoru. He's not your grandpa, you know."

"I mean, of course." Kaoru said, more to herself than to her friend. "Of course he knows. I guess the question is now, should I do something about it, or should I not."

Misao raised her eyebrows at that statement.

"What are you planning on doing if you are going to do something about it?"

Kaoru looked up and shrugged.

"I'll show him what funky really means."

Misao's confused look intensified.

"Girl, I'm losing you."

Kaoru sighed.

"Funky could mean a lot of things. If you say, 'this smells funky', that means it's bad. If you say, 'that girl has funky style', then it's good. Follow me?"

Misao gave no sign of a response, much too shocked at how her friend was handling the situation. Kaoru sighed as she examined herself for a few seconds before sighing all over again. Beside her, Misao clicked her tongue.

"Come on, Kaoru. You've only met the guy twice. I'm sure you can forget about him easily enough. Knowing your personality, you'll get a new crush in a couple of days!"

Narrowed blue eyes glared its way to Misao's green ones and the girl squeaked in sudden fear. Kaoru frowned and deciding to ignore her friend's latter comments, questioned,

"When he says funky, do you think he meant the good funky, or the bad funky?"

Misao sighed. Kaoru was lovely, but she's somewhat scary from time to time.

"I'm pretty sure he meant the bad funky, whatever that means."

"Huh." Kaoru said to herself before she made her way to the closet and started observing her clothes. Misao watched her warily from her bed.

"Kaoru, what are you doing?"

"Changing my style of clothing."

"_What_?!" Misao exclaimed, immediately jumping out of her bed and rushing to her best friend. "Oh no, you're not. You are not going to fall victim of a man! You are not going to change your individuality just because a man said he doesn't like it! You look really pretty the way you are, with your vintage-slash-punk-slash-emo style, or whatever you want to call it. Don't let one Kenshin Himura ruin this for you!"

Kaoru observed her before she chuckled, all the while smiling a beautiful evil smile that only Kaoru could accomplish.

"Please, Misao. Relax."

Misao couldn't relax. She started stammering again, saying something along the lines of feminism, how the two had shared an oath back in high school saying they would never fall to the traps of male dominance, etc. etc. But Kaoru interrupted her.

"Oh come on, Misao, you obviously don't believe I really am _that_ attracted to Kenshin Himura, are you?"

That stopped Misao. Effectively. Immediately.

"What?" The braided girl stage-whispered. Kaoru started fishing out old clothes from her closet.

"I mean, he's extraordinarily cute and I know I can easily be attracted to him, but I don't believe in love at first sight or anything like that. It's not like I'm in 'love' with him." Explained Kaoru as she created air quotation marks when she said 'love'. "I was only trying to get on his good side so I can land that internship position in his company. Remember that extremely limited, extremely exclusive internship program I told you about? The one that actually pays you $10 per hour and gives you work benefits? That's what I meant. I mean, not that many interns get benefits, much less money compensation."

Misao let out an "oh", standing right there feeling extremely… stupid. Kaoru had her back on her, she didn't realize Misao's sudden enlightenment.

"But now that I know my dressing code wouldn't even cut the first line, I'm glad. Crap, how come I don't have anything business casual? Cause I'm sure that's what guys like him like, right? Misao, do you want to go shopping with me this weekend? Misao?"

Kaoru turned around and had to suddenly duck as Misao started throwing her knives of all sorts, causing Kaoru to shriek in surprise before laughing loudly.

"My _god_ woman," Misao screeched. "You made me go through all this crap just for a stupid internship opportunity? You even made me _lie_ to him about the fact that you've never kissed before? Argh, I'm going to kill you!"

"Well…" Kaoru tried to explain sheepishly. "He had the impression that he values innocence and purity. So I thought I should leave the 'hey-I'm-an-innocent-virgin' act for him."

But Misao wasn't listening. Fearing for her own safety, Kaoru rushed out of their dorm room laughing crazily as Misao trailed right after her, daggers and knives all flying around the dorm hall.

* * *

Aoshi arched an eyebrow at the woman sitting comfortably in front of him. Was that a smirk on her face?

He must had been imagining things.

Misao must have had a kick out of this. He cleared his throat.

"Miss Kamiya," Kaoru looked up confidently at the mentioning of her name. Aoshi was reading her profile, two other people with the same formal appearance sitting themselves beside him.

"So," He started cautiously, not sure what was going on. "Why are you interested in our internship program?"

Was this a private act to get back at his boss? Or was she actually really interested in interning?

Kaoru didn't miss a beat.

"Everyone knows that Hiko-Himura Inc. is the single, most-rapidly growing company in the field of media entertainment. As I am very interested in being a publicist, I can see no better opportunity than interning here. I am sure I will learn massive amounts of experience and knowledge if I should be accepted to give my share of talent in this company."

She has confidence bordering on arrogance, Aoshi noted. But somehow, he couldn't find himself saying that she's too proud.

Her sudden change of attitude baffled him, too. The two times he saw her (at Misao's insistence), she had been wearing those weird clothes, somewhere along the lines of faded black dress shirts, black miniskirts, black platform boots, and the makeup covering her face that made her look like she just stumbled out of, well, mud. If it weren't for the documents before him, he was sure he wouldn't know that he was talking to the same person.

Now, she was chic and sharp, with the theme 'dress to impress' screaming at the top of her lungs. And Aoshi was, to say the least, impressed.

The rest of the interview turned out to be just as impressive. She didn't look to be the honors student type, didn't look to be the type to maintain a 3.94 GPA with her double majors, much less to be the type who was actually a Vice President for her Public Relations Club _and_ the Red Cross in her campus, and to do the twice-a-week volunteers at church and feeding the homeless.

Really, Aoshi Shinomori learned the whole truth of not judging a book by its cover.

Fifteen minutes later, Kaoru bowed down low at her interviewers, all of whom (saved Aoshi) had smiles on their faces.

She walked out with the promise of being called tomorrow for the scheduling of her second interview.

* * *

Kaoru knew that, as she was once again back on that white room, this time with only Aoshi Shinomori sitting before her, that the chances of her being accepted was more than seventy percent. She tried hard not to smirk.

"Miss Kamiya," he started. Kaoru was all ears immediately.

"I must say that we were all very impressed with your resumé. When I last saw you two weeks ago, you answered all of our questions perfectly. Do you have any further comments before we make our final decision?"

Kaoru opened her mouth immediately, but Aoshi, perhaps because he was tired of being called an ice man, or perhaps it was just one of those days he felt like he needed to do something out of the ordinary, provoked her.

"Further comments, perhaps, regarding my superior?"

Kaoru effectively closed her mouth and observed the man before her. Unconsciously, her eyes narrowed.

Was he tricking her? Testing her? Placing her in some type of trap?

But when all she saw was pure humor and curiosity, she allowed herself to smirk.

"Off the record, Mr. Shinomori?"

"What you say will not be held against you, Miss Kamiya. And believe me, it will not leave this room."

Kaoru stifled an evil laugh, trying to remind herself that she was still in a formal interview setting. Instead, she focused herself to best answer the question.

"Well, Mr. Shinomori, interesting question you asked, if I may say so myself. I must state my apologies for my previous actions towards Mr. Himura, they were uncalled for. But as for my work in this company, please do not worry about the fact that my personal feelings would interfere with my abilities to do my best here. In fact, you may say that I bear no more personal feelings whatsoever towards Mr. Himura."

Aoshi found this hard to believe, perhaps it was because of the undying smirk on her face.

"Really?"

Kaoru's smirk practically beamed at his skeptical question.

"I may have never had any feelings for him in the first place. I can never be sure. After all, I am an _immature baby_ with regards to romantic relationships, to quote Mr. Himura's own words. Of course, the fact that Mr. Himura called me _funky_ helped me past my first interview, thus I believe I owe him an act of gratitude."

Aoshi frowned.

"Just how did my superior calling you funky helped you pass the first interview?"

Kaoru smiled and was about to answer when a crisp knock interrupted her. Aoshi told the person to come in.

Speaking of the devil. In came none other than Kenshin Himura.

Kaoru suddenly found the whole situation to be hilarious and it took all of her will power to not just laugh out loud.

"Aoshi, I had some troubles with the accounting you did for me…"

Aoshi cleared his throat.

"I'm sorry Himura, but I'm in the middle of interviewing a potential intern."

Kenshin's eyes widened and he actually glanced up from the huge folder he was holding. He observed his surroundings and smiled sheepishly at Kaoru. That was when both Kaoru and Aoshi realized he didn't know who she was.

Apparently her change in appearance was that drastic.

Their amusement skyrocketed.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Please, go on. You don't mind me waiting here, do you?"

He didn't wait for an answer from either of the two people in the room, and he just simply took the seat beside Aoshi, who in turn sighed. There goes his golden opportunity of making fun of his boss to the new intern, who was also his girlfriend's best friend. Wait, this might actually work for a fun show. He smirked.

"Well, Miss Kaoru Kamiya," he said slowly, purposefully saying her full name so that he will caught the attention of a certain redhead. True enough, his boss immediately looked up and stared wide eyed at him before shifting his glance to the woman, sitting alone in the middle of the room, looking all mighty and confident.

His jaw dropped.

What?

That couldn't be her.

That couldn't possibly be the same person!

But as he observed her more, as he heard her speak, he realized that it _was_ her.

He didn't know such a transformation was humanly possible.

He couldn't help but to blush when he realized that she actually looked somewhat beautiful now. Oh, who was he kidding. She was very, very beautiful. Gorgeous, in fact. She was in an instant a picture of Kenshin's type of women. Just a look at her and he could tell that she was charismatic, intact, sharp, and intelligent. How come he never realized all this before?

Ah, of course. It was all hidden from his view because her funky attire had eluded him from actually observing her true self. He was ashamed of himself.

Aoshi continued on.

"We shall continue our previous conversation in the near future. Meanwhile, I am happy to say that I can find no logical reason to not accept you." Aoshi stood up, nonverbally motioning for her to do the same. She did, her face blasting into a grin.

"You are now officially a part of our team. Congratulations."

And he shook her hand. Wow, she had wiped off those striped dark nail polish too.

Then, amusement caught him as he saw the expression on Kaoru's face. She had this mischievous look.

"Excuse me, Mr. Shinomori, but now that I am rightfully accepted as your intern, would you please give me two minutes of time-out? Just two minutes of a blind spot?"

Knowing full well of what she was about to do, he couldn't bring himself to say no. He knew he should have, but he really just wanted to see what she would do to his sometimes annoying, sometimes absentminded boss. So, very unlike himself, Aoshi answered yes.

Kaoru muttered her thanks before she made her way towards the aforementioned boss, who was staring at her with his wide, violet eyes, seated limply on his chair.

The smirk on Kaoru's face was an image to behold.

"Ke-n-shin-san," she purred, using all of her mature, seductive demeanor, each syllable of his name overly pronounced. Hearing his name escaped from her lips like that made him involuntarily shiver.

He still couldn't believe this was the same girl he had rejected just weeks ago.

"There's this thing I've always wanted to do since I first laid my eyes on you."

And without further ado, she leaned down and caught his open mouth to a kiss.

Aoshi's eyes widened considerably before he smirked and had to stop himself from laughing. The look on Kenshin's face was enough to satisfy what he wanted. Thus, he walked out of the room and immediately dialed a certain girl's phone number, to fill her in on what just happened.

He had a feeling that Kenshin had been playing on Kamiya's palm all along.

Smart, that girl. Aoshi was glad he made the right decision and accepted her to become his intern.

Meanwhile, Kenshin was concentrating hard on the feel of Kaoru's soft lips. They were so soft he swore they could have been made of silk.

Kaoru's tongue easily made its way to his mouth, making its way through his teeth, touching his own tongue, pleasuring him until a low groan was heard from his throat. Her teeth gently nibbled on his lower lip, enough to give him the slightest hint of pain, but only to trace it back with her tongue to erase it with pleasure.

Kenshin knew then that she was _not_ a baby.

She was a professional kisser and this could not possibly be her first time kissing.

Slowly, painfully for him, she let him go, causing him to pant and stared at her with wild eyes. He wanted more, damn it!

Kaoru smirked.

"I'd say that's a pretty hardcore funky kiss. What do you think, boss?"

And with that, she meant the _good_ funky. Of course.

* * *

**Author's Scribbles**  
Well, I've been MIA for a while again. Does this mean I have commitment issues? Hmm, perhaps so.

Anyway, here's an update. Hope you guys liked! And I swear the next update will not take another year, okay?

Thank you very much for all the reviews, people. Keep 'em coming, I say! Gracias!


	7. G for Gossip

**Alphabets**

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**Disclaimer**  
Standard disclaimer applies. I do not own anything.

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**Word Count  
**~ 2,600

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**Theme**  
Light romance with slight humor.

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**# 7 - G for _Gossip_**

* * *

There was just something about the wind today that made Kaoru Kamiya felt strange. It was warm, gusty. But, it somehow made her shiver in contradiction.

Eyes were giving discreet glances her way. Mouths were whispering.

Kaoru mentally panicked; the world seemingly closing in on her. She knew full well what those eyes meant.

She needed to reach the building before she took too much of this. However, she had just parked her car and the building was far. She was no superhuman that could teleport when the circumstances deemed necessary, unfortunately.

Words entered her ears.

It took all of her determination to not stop and process the words in shock.

Her heart beat wildly despite herself. The adrenaline was rushing through her bloodstream. It was supposedly autumn, but the winds were strange. They were warm. Autumn winds weren't supposed to be warm.

Or was she just perspiring because of those knowing smiles and narrowed eyes?

Seriously, how could warm winds make her shiver? How head was light and her face was burning due to the rise of temperature inside her. She was not so sure the internal heat was due to the winds.

A pebble caused her to stumble and a pair of arms snaked their way to her shoulders, stabilizing her. Kaoru almost dreaded to look up, but she did nonetheless.

A pair of chocolate brown eyes stared down at her, the owner grinning proudly and happily. The words the person spoke next caused Kaoru's own pair of sapphire blue eyes to widen.

She latched herself off Sano's grip as if she was burned. The man howled in laughter and told her to not be embarrassed. He told her that it was old news. Everyone knew already, so she had no need to be embarrassed.

Kaoru wasn't now. She was furious.

Punching the living daylights out of her brother-figure, she continued to the building.

Before reaching it, she was blocked by her group of female coworkers close enough to be considered friends. Kaoru arched an eyebrow at each of their somewhat unexplainable expressions.

They all mumbled something, eyes all wide with disbelief, all with a mixture of happiness and concern. Happiness and concern did not blend well together, and probably that was why it was unexplainable.

_You did the right thing_, they whispered encouragingly. _It's all going to be alright in the long run_, they promised her.

Kaoru managed to hold back the shiver from the warm wind, tugging at her scarf. She somehow managed a curt nod at her coworkers, all the while making sure her feet were taking her as far away from the women as quickly as possible. Finally, she opened the doors to the building.

Up the flight of stairs, down the hallway. Kaoru refused the elevator, knowing that those stares and oh-so-hearable whispers were worse in the secluded, no-exit machine. At last she reached a particular landing and she exited the stairwell.

Immediately, eyes met Kaoru's once again, narrowing knowingly. Mouths opened once more, words drifted across the echoing hallway.

Seriously, did they think that Kaoru could not hear? Or maybe they wanted her to hear. Maybe they wanted her to know that they know.

A look of nonchalance was feigned, but Kaoru's heart was pounding like a jackhammer in the middle of a construction project.

Finally she reached the room. She almost turned the handle with the sheer power of her panic, but those eyes were observing – studying – her every movement.

Instead, she knocked. She desperately preserved her composure, and knocked.

A female voice told her it was fine to come in. She walked in.

Two pairs of eyes immediately stared her down.

Kaoru shivered.

She knew then it definitely was not because of the wind, because there was no autumn wind inside the building.

A female on the right side of the room, seated comfortably behind a beautiful desk, scoffed before looking sideways to the other female in the room, who in turn gave Kaoru phony sympathetic eyes.

"Kamiya, no wonder you've been doing so well lately," the right-side female scorned.

"You're bound to regret it later," the female on the left added.

Kaoru tried to smile but didn't wait for further explanations as she made her way through another door on the other side of the room.

This time, she didn't knock.

Once in, she did not even bother gracing the room with her attention. Instead, she softly closed the wooden doors behind her, placed her numb, sweating hands on her back, and leaned against the door.

She closed her eyes because she was finally inside her destination, her heart still ricocheting wildly inside her. Her ears pounded with the words – the many, many words she heard in the span of ten minutes or so.

She breathed in heavily, taking a moment to calm herself. Her ears were still pounding with those nonsensical words.

The painful pounding in her ears almost caused her to miss the sudden shift of movement from the other side of the room.

Eyes opened and immediately, blue orbs narrowed.

"Something crazy is going on." Hinted Kaoru, testing the waters first before plunging herself in.

The man before her, seated oh-so-comfortably on his leather seat, his hands resting on top of his keyboard with eyes glancing away from his computer screen, looked amused.

"It's only nine past eight in the morning, Kaoru."

As if _nothing_ could happen at nine past eight in the morning. His nonchalance caused her eyes to narrow even some more as Kaoru left her post and made her way towards the man.

Never once breaking off eye contact, she seated herself on the seat across from him, separated by the table, crossed her smooth legs, and intertwined her arms together in a huff.

"Talk is weird today."

The man gave her another amused glance before returning back to his monitor, fingers typing away.

"What could you possibly mean, Kaoru?"

A scoff, a huff, and a somewhat hard slam on his wooden desk caused him to return back to the woman before him. Amusement was still intact on his face.

"Talk is _weird_ today, Kenshin."

Those amused eyes, those oh-I'm-so-innocent eyes blinked confusion.

"I am sorry Kaoru, but I really have no idea what you are talking about."

In her annoyance, Kaoru took off the scarf on her neck. It was a present the man had given her merely weeks ago, but she took it off. It was getting slightly warm and she needed cool to have this conversation.

"You cannot possibly enter this whole complex without knowing what I meant, Kenshin. I somehow find that quite hard to believe."

Fingers finally leaving the keyboard, he folded them on the table. Kenshin turned his whole body so that he was now facing a miffed Kaoru, his amusement seemingly all gone.

"Oh, you couldn't possibly mean those talk about us being a couple, are you?"

A twitch. A pause. A sigh.

"Yes, that." Agreed Kaoru, sounding very tired suddenly. Kenshin observed her. His amusement now was clearly, genuinely gone.

"Are you okay?"

Kaoru observed him, face skeptical. Re-crossing her arms across her chest once again, she leaned back against the chair she was seated on.

"Of course not."

Her decisive tone caused him to frown.

"And why not?"

"Because," she wanted to explain as if he was a three-year-old, "You're our boss. You're the CEO of the billion dollar company that is this building. I'm the lowly district manager, trying to get through her MBA degree on the local university, trying to get through life, basically."

The confusion on his face, mixed with the slight hurt inflicted by her words, caused Kaoru to study Kenshin with a slightly exasperated look on her face. Kenshin blinked after a while, that mixture of bewilderment and pain still intact on his otherwise handsome face.

"So?"

Once again, eyes were narrowed at that statement.

"Do you really not understand where I'm going with this?"

Again, Kenshin blinked once, twice, before he nodded his head slowly.

"I do, but I fail to see the significance."

Kaoru stared. Kaoru frowned.

"Kenshin, we are _not_ a couple." Kaoru explained, one of her fingers pointing back and forth between the two of them.

The confused, hurt look on his face was intensified. But the hurt was gone the next second and Kaoru thought she might have been seeing things.

"Not officially." Kenshin corrected her. Kaoru made as if she was about to comment, but the man gave her no chance. "But we _are_ dating. That makes us a not-yet-official couple. But we are, indeed, a couple."

Kaoru did not want to hurt Kenshin. She did not want to hurt their relationship. That was probably why she smartly decided it was time to remain momentarily silent and give the situation some thought.

She couldn't help, personally and privately, to agree that indeed, Kenshin and she was a couple. But life would just be too complicated like this.

"But we can't let people know." She mumbled, more to herself than to anyone else in the world.

Amusement was back on Kenshin's face.

"Why not?"

"You are the boss." She repeated. "I am your employee. We are not supposed to be involved romantically. It is not ethically right to some people.

"Plus, now people will just wrongfully assume that all my accomplishments are not based on the fact that I am excellent at my _job_. They will just think that I got promoted because I am extraordinarily good in _bed_. Or worse, because I'm blackmailing you to give me special attention. I heard one of your secretaries outside saying that _just_ before I knocked on their door." Kaoru added, whispering scornfully.

Frowning in disbelief, Kenshin stood up and made his way towards Kaoru, who was watching him with exasperated eyes.

"People who think like that are mere fools, if not idiots. Don't let them get to you. You know as much as I do that you are excellent at your job. Besides, I am not in charge of promoting each and every employee I hire, and you are definitely not under my direct jurisdiction. Anyone with half a brain can understand at least that much. And as far as I remember, romance in the work place is not prohibited in this company. If it is, I can just as easily change the rules." The shrug of nonchalance caused Kaoru to sigh even more.

"It is not prohibited, that is true. But," Kaoru corrected him, rolling her eyes, "we are not supposed to be all lovey-dovey during work hours."

Lovey-dovey? Kenshin decided to ignore her interesting word choice.

"I never make passes at you during work. Everything is done outside the work place."

Involuntarily, Kaoru blushed. Of course everything was done outside the work place. Two nights ago had involved Kenshin's apartment, Kenshin's kitchen, Kenshin's couch, and Kenshin's bed all in one evening.

The smile he had on his face signaled to her that he knew what she was thinking of. Shaking her head, she refused to be defeated.

"It's unprofessional for gossips to be spreading around like this. We should stop it."

"It's not like we can do anything about it now that everyone knows about it. It'll die out soon enough."

The statement was so simple, Kaoru couldn't help but to almost believe it. But the rational part of her caused her to narrow her eyes in skepticism.

"But you haven't even asked me to go steady with you yet!"

Kenshin's eyes widened and, much to Kaoru's dismay, he chuckled.

"I did."

Kaoru stood up, now standing level against the man who was her superior.

"No, you didn't."

"Actually, I have. And your response was very amusing."

She scrunched her eyebrows in confusion.

"I'm afraid I'm not following this, boss." She commented sarcastically. Kenshin barked a laugh as he embraced her lovingly, effectively breaking all that work ethic where you can't be, to quote Kaoru's words, "lovey-dovey in the work place".

"You never cease to amuse me in these five months we've started dating, Kaoru."

She scoffed but couldn't help to indulge in his warm embrace and wonderful smell.

Finally, he released her enough just so that he could see her face. He was still amused and delighted. She was still frustrated and scornful.

"Oh Kaoru, do I have to be blunt about everything?"

She failed to answer and he chuckled.

"Alright then. Kaoru, will you please be my girlfriend?"

Kaoru did not expect that and thus was shocked witless. Her face turned embarrassingly red from the sudden heat.

Blinking seconds away, she finally smiled and nodded shyly despite herself. Kenshin smiled back before leaning in to give her a quick peck on her lips.

For that moment, the rumors were forgotten.

But only for that fleeting moment.

"What are we going to do about the talk then?" Kaoru asked, once again back to scornful mode. Kenshin's hand retained their grip on her waist. Amethyst eyes shone in glee.

"Just let it be. It'll die out once the news is widespread."

Kaoru sighed and nodded. Realizing she was overreacting, she made a move to exit the room. Kenshin easily let her go as he himself made his way back to his seat. But her attempt on returning to her office was stopped when she turned back and stated,

"I wonder who spread such rumors. I think if I ever find out, I'll fry that person alive. Maybe it's Sano. Lately we haven't been too good at hiding our relationship in front of him."

"Oro?"

Hands paused from typing at the keyboard once again, as eyes made their way to observe Kaoru. Kenshin looked so adorable with that slightly aghast, slightly concerned expression of his. It _almost_ made her miss his next statement. Of course, almost was the keyword there.

"It was me, Kaoru."

Silence. Then, a hiss of,

"What?"

Kenshin would have chuckled if it were not for the deadly glare his girlfriend was giving him. Instead, he gulped.

"Why?"

He briefly wondered why he was so attracted to the slightly temperamental woman before him.

Oh right.

She was Kaoru.

And everything about Kaoru attracted him. Everything about her can easily make him run in circles just because his heart would beat wildly for no particular reason and everything about her can easily stun him speechless with warm emotions. Even her temperament.

"I thought it'd be an interesting way to ask you to go steady with me."

Kaoru's mouth fell open and Kenshin's proud look turned sheepish.

"_What_?" Kaoru hissed with dripping venom.

"Uh, I take it that's not such a good idea?"

Kaoru practically stomped her way toward Kenshin and was about to give him her piece of mind before, seeing an opportunity, Kenshin reached out, stood up once again, and swept her in one smooth move. He effectively stole her lips whilst in the process.

Kaoru knew it was probably not in her best interest when she gave in to the tingly feelings on her lips and closed her eyes, melting away in the kiss.

After all, mouths were loose. The tongue was an organ of great flexibility – the simple fact that she was going out with Kenshin could be distorted and twisted in such a way that made it sound like she was an evil witch placing a curse on the poor man. She was sure she's in for a hell lot of sneers, teases, scornful looks from other female coworkers, and most probably even some from her bosses, male _and_ female.

But, as she was overridden with the addictive sensations of Kenshin's own tongue against hers, she decided for once that gossip was not all that big of a deal. Rumors would die if you face it head on. Talks would disappear if you learn to get by and continue on living.

What the hell, what Kenshin did was romantic anyway.

* * *

**Author's Scribbles**  
I made this story thinking I wanted something light - like air, oxygen, ... just a slice of life, you know? I also tried a somewhat different writing style than what I'm used to (anyone noticed?) and I don't know how it ended up. But anyway, like I promised, this update did not take a year! I am so proud of myself right now...

In addition, thank you for my reviewers! You guys are seriously the single, most powerful reason why I continue with my stories here. The reviews are all very supportive. Thank you!

For those readers also reading my other fic, _Long Vacation_, I would like to announce that the next chapter is almost complete. I need to write one more section (to make it longer and thus worth the wait) and then proofread it. The story is almost complete, so I would really appreciate it if you'll just give me a little bit more of your patience and stick with me to the end.

Oh, and, I got into the university of my choice! That basically sealed the deal for me and I would be moving pretty soon (again) and have to quit my job. But, right now I'm just so happy at the fact that I'm accepted, I really am too delirious to care about the hardships I have to face in the near future. For now, grad school, here I come!!!

* * *

**-prohibited-**


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